‘DON’T be distracted and stay safe on our roads’, is the theme of a new ‘design a school banner’ competition being organised by the region’s largest law firm to mark the start of Child Safety Week.
To coincide with the national week, which runs from today (Tuesday, June 5), Wilkin Chapman solicitors, has joined forces with Safer Roads Humber, the Road Safety team at Hull City Council, Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance and the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership to launch the competition across the region.
With offices in Grimsby, Lincoln, Beverley, Louth, Alford and Horncastle, the firm wants primary school children to design a road safety banner. The competition will aim to get children thinking about distractions whilst walking to school, which could cause danger.
One winning design from our three areas – Northern Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire and Hull and the East Riding - will receive 60 high vis jackets (20 of three different sizes) for their schools and see their banner designs printed onto canvas to be displayed at their schools. All the designs will be put onto a YouTube channel.
Entries, open to primary schools in the HU, YO, DN and LN postcode areas, will be judged in the East Riding and Northern Lincolnshire by Wilkin Chapman Partner, Steve Hennegan; Ruth Gore of Safer Roads Humber and Allan Robins, Road Safety officer at Hull City Council. Meanwhile in greater Lincolnshire, Faye Nam from the Air Ambulance and John Siddle from the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, will join the panel.
Launching the competition, Steve said: “With offices in the centre of Beverley and extending to Hull and the surrounding Yorkshire Wolds, as well as offices in Grimsby, Lincoln and Lincolnshire, Wilkin Chapman is keen to promote children’s road safety in both urban and more rural areas.
“As solicitors that have sadly dealt with numerous child related accidents, we are acutely aware of the terrible impact that these accidents have on individuals and families and would want to be pro-active in helping to grow awareness of safety and prevention,” added Steve.
Statistics supplied by Safer Roads Humber reveal that children, especially of school age, are at greatest risk of being killed or seriously injured as a pedestrian, with one in three such casualties being under the age of 15.
Ruth Gore said: “Safer Roads Humber is pleased to team up with Wilkin Chapman to promote this children’s competition. The partnership works closely with a range of schools across the region to help raise awareness of the dangers children face if they are distracted when crossing the road. The competition is a fun way for children to talk about what they need to do to keep themselves safe
In the Lincolnshire police area, 2017 saw a total of 1,911 road collisions. Of those, 49 were fatal, with 519 people seriously injured.
Welcoming the school banner competition, John Siddle of the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, said: “Whilst many injury collisions can have a devastating impact on families it is often more harrowing when these collisions involve children and this is why we have to teach our children the fundamentals of road safety, make sure they recognise the dangers and ensure that they are not distracted from being safe when walking, riding pedal cycles or acting as a passenger in vehicles.”
Faye Nam added: “It is great to be able to get on board with this fantastic competition. As a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service operating within Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, we see all too well the devastating result of road traffic collisions, involving both adults and children. Any initiative that encourages road safety is definitely a worthwhile thing.”
Primary schools can make one entry per school, with a deadline of Friday, June 29 to submit a design. The design itself should easily fit onto an exterior PVC banner which is approx. three metres wide and just under a metre high/deep.
Packs are available, with full instructions and pre-paid envelopes to send in the original design. Please contact Jessica.Thrasher-Wood@wilkinchapman.co.uk to have one sent to your school.
