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High note for Child Road Safety

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We’ve struck a chord with one of the UK’s leading  recruitment groups as the nation celebrates Road Safety Week (November 20-26).

Midlands-based Pertemps Network Group has matched the money raised by the charity from busking and other musical fundraising events across Europe to the tune of £10,000.

The brainchild of Fay Goodman, Director of Birmingham road safety organisation DriveSafe & StaySafe, our Conies are an animated family of traffic cones that take part in amusing and instructive adventures to help children improve their road safety.

Fay, who launched The Conies in a new Walking to School Journal trialled successfully across a number of Birmingham primary schools this year, aims to make the characters as much of a role model in safety education as the Green Cross Code man and Tufty the Squirrel were in their day.

Tim Watts, Lifetime President of Pertemps, presented a giant cheque for £10,000 to Fay to support her efforts in promoting an initiative that matches his company’s health and safety ethos.   

Fay joined special guest artist Mohinder Singh, a tabla player who performed recently with Take That, violinist Pete Harley and The Celturian on The Conies fundraising tour.

Fay, who is also a world-leading martial artist, said: “We used a mystical fusion of 4,000-year-old tabla rhythms by Mohinder and 400-year-old Japanese sword kata, as well as a Tessan dance (a war dance using fans), to provide a dramatic and rewarding show that thrilled our audiences.”

Tim Watts, also a Conies Ambassador, said: “Pertemps are proud supporters of The Conies. This fantastic charity works to raise road safety awareness and helps to save the lives of children. Fay works extremely hard to organise fun and different events to raise funds for the charity and I am pleased to be able to help out such a brilliant cause.”

Fay Goodman said: “I am delighted by this generous donation which will help turn our ambitious plans to reality, and I hope that other high profile companies will follow this wonderful lead.  It is devastating to hear of a child being seriously injured or, worse, killed – and essential that we do all we can to help children and guide their parents and other adults in all dangerous environments. This is particularly pertinent as we acknowledge Road Safety Week 2017.”

Fay added: “A second pilot of our highly successful Walking to School Safety Journal will be distributed to schools in Aston, Nechells and Newtown during January 2018.   I am thrilled that The Conies are taking off so successfully and engaging with children from the age of 4 upwards.  We may have only just started but we are ready to take on the world!”

 

Supporting Speed Down Save Lives

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This year’s Road Safety Week campaign is Speed Down, Save Lives, and the Conies is giving it our full support.

When you read the stats, you’ll understand why.

  • Road crashes are the second biggest killer of young people aged five to 19
  • More than five children are seriously hurt or killed every single day on British roads. 
  • Most incidents involving children occur when they are walking home from school. 
  • Children under 15 cannot judge the speed of approaching vehicles when they are travelling at speeds greater than 20mph, so may believe it is safe to cross when it isn’t. 

Speed is a crucial factor in the safety of pedestrians. Speed and stopping distances don’t increase at the same rate. Small increases in speed result in bigger increases in stopping distances. That’s why it’s so important for drivers to drive within speed limits and to keep to 20mph in residential areas. Even a 1mph cut in speed can reduce the chance of a fatal injury by 5 per cent.

As well as improving road safety, cutting speed also benefits the health and wellbeing of our children. Slower traffic makes people feel safer, which encourages more young people to walk and cycle. More children walking and cycling means fewer cars on the roads and lower pollution from vehicle emissions. More walking and cycling also means better health and helps prevent childhood obesity as well as diabetes.

To find out more about Road Safety Week visit http://www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk