[18 December 2007]

Raising Fire & Road Safety Awareness

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, in conjunction with West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service have launched an initiative new approach to teaching local children about fire & road safety awareness. Firefighters from Bohemia Road community fire station in Hastings have been teaching school children aged 6 - 7 years, the importance of wearing their seatbelts, the dangers of hoax calls and many other important aspects of fire and road safety. The Fire Service football coaches use the medium of football to communicate these messages effectively to the children.

The group of children were given coloured bibs to wear, each bearing different fire and road safety slogans. The instructors used various activities and games, over a period of five weeks to highlight important fire & road safety messages, such as how to plan an escape route and 'stop, drop and roll'.

East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, in partnership with West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are the first Fire & Rescue Service to run a project of this nature. Project Manager Dave Amiet who has overseen the course, commented, "These coaching sessions have been really successful and I've been really pleased with how receptive the children have been to the important fire & road safety messages. Hopefully, the children will be passing the messages on to their family and friends. The feedback has been really positive from their parents and teachers."

At the end of the course the children received a special certificate to show that they had taken part in the fire & road safety course.