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Competition winners announced

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Well done to the two winning families who will be going to see the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final. They were chosen at random from all those who entered our recent competition and correctly selected ‘Cone with the Wind’ as the answer.

Cone with the Wind is our latest video available to watch on YouTube if you haven’t seen it yet, please do so. A gorgeously animated story with educational messages about the environment that will delight as well as inform all the family!

 

The winning entrant Linsey Ferrari asked if she could share her prize with another winner as she didn’t need all the tickets.  So two families, the Ferraris and the Worths will now benefit from the tickets given to The Conies by Aviva.  The tickets were presented in an assembly at Balsall Common Primary School today.

Pupils at Balsall Common Primary School took part in The Conies Road Safety pilot last year.  We also delivered another 300 journals this week so even more children can learn about road safety with our fun characters.

Howard Rose, Director of Funding and Publicity BCPS, said: “This is such a great initiative and I am delighted to say that I have been lucky enough to be involved with it from the start almost. It was fantastic news to find out that the winner of the competition came from our school and that we were able to present the prize as part of The Conies Road Safety Assembly, thanks to Fay and her team.”

Fay Goodman, our founder, added: “Thanks so much to Aviva for the tickets. We’re grateful to all the businesses who help to support the work of The Conies, we couldn’t do it without them.  If you’d like to get involved then there are several ways you can help.” 

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Helping More Children To Walk To School Safely

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Five thousand school pupils from 70 schools in the Aston, Nechells and Winson Green areas of Birmingham have benefited from road safety education and advice as we continue to expand our successful road safety projects throughout the city. This is at a time when a series of recent incidents have highlighted just how dangerous the journey to school can be.

Fay Goodman, our founder explains: “In the last few weeks we’ve seen some awful news stories about accidents near schools, school crossing patrols being cut, and just how dangerous it can be for some children to get to school.  Our vision is to create a safer world where children can go to school and play outside safely.”

Following our first pilot in 27 Birmingham schools last year, we delivered road safety teaching resources to nearly 3000 children, located in high accident hotspot areas of the city involving school children. The response was 100% positive in feedback from both teachers and pupils alike. The success of the pilot means we have now been able to increase the number of children we reach with the delivery of thousands of fun and educational work books to local pupils. Teachers also receive lesson plan books with a variety of activities and scenarios for delivering road safety education to their classroom.

At an official launch event on Tuesday 22 May, representatives from West Midlands Police, West Midlands Fire Service, Birmingham Council, Five Alive Roadwise, and local schools heard more about the impact of The Conies Journal on local children’s understanding of road safety.

Thanks to Colour Cubed who print our journals.

Fay Goodman – founder of the Conies, PC Malcolm Cooper – Young person’s officer – Birmingham Partnerships, Jean Roberts – Five Alive Roadwise, and Claire Turner.

Fay added “We are delighted with the support we’ve received to extend our Road Safety programme and thank all our supporters who have made it possible. Our mission is to reduce accidents and to avoid potential dangers out there. The Conies are a fun and friendly way to teach children about risk and how to mitigate it.

“Our work is by no means done with this latest round of journals, ideally we need another 15,000 just to meet the demand from the schools we’ve already spoken to.  If any local businesses or organisations can support us we would be incredibly grateful. You can get in touch with us via our website.”

The Conies are already supported by the Birmingham Safety Community Partnership which comprises the WM Police, West Midlands Fire Service and Birmingham City Council. Also Tim Watts, Chairman of Pertemps Group, Jess Phillips MP and celebrity Rick Wakeman. West Midlands Mayor Andy Street sent a message of support that was read out at the event.

Department for Transport statistics show on average in the mid-1990s, 260 children killed on Britain’s roads annually. Year on year these figures dropped until 2011 with the trend now reversed upwards. In 2016 69 children (an increase of 15 from 2015), were killed on our roads. This was the highest figure since 2009. We believe that concerted efforts need to be undertaken to address this worrying trend.

All support whether financial or volunteering time and skills would be very welcome, please get in touch if you can help.

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The Benefits of Walking to School

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It’s Walk to School Week from the 21st to 25th May, and we want to encourage you to get out of the car and walk with your children to school. Here’s our 5 top reasons for walking:

1. Road Safety

Use the walk to school to teach your children about road safety. Skills they learn now will be invaluable for the rest of their lives.  The school run would also be safer for everyone if there were fewer car traffic around schools. Axa have published a report drawing on over six years’ data which showing 85,814 UK child injuries on roads within a 500m radius of schools, the equivalent of 1,190 a month.

2. Community

It’s better for your community. Fewer cars mean less pollution, less congestion and reduced parking problems around the school. According to Living Streets organisation their annual survey shows where 70% of primary school children in the 1970s used to walk to school, today that figure is 48%, the lowest ever. Such a decline impacts on children’s health, air quality, traffic congestion and road safety. By contrast 67% of Dutch children either walk or cycle to school. The amount driven by car in Holland is just 4%!

3. Health

Childhood obesity is rising fast and children need at least an hour of exercise each day. Why not walk to school to tackle those issues? The benefits of walking are seen as follows:

  • Building strong bones and muscles.
  • Decreasing the risk of obesity.
  • Lowering risk for diabetes and metabolic disease.
  • Lowering risk for cardiovascular disease.
  • Improving mental health

After a good cardiovascular workout, studies show children who arrive at school are more alert, focused and perform better in their academic education. Those driven to school have poorer concentration levels and over a three year period have been shown to be as much as 6 months behind academically. Exercise helps our brains make better use of oxygen thereby reducing mental fatigue and sharpen your thinking. 

4. Cost

You’ll spend less on petrol. When the car’s engine is cold it is less efficient so short journeys to school and back are particularly costly. One in three children driven to school live less than a mile from their school.

5. Time

Walking to school could save you time. Have your measured it? By the time you’ve loaded your car, driven and parked, walking could be just as quick – or even quicker. If your school runs a walking bus then you can wave goodbye to your children from a nearby safe location, saving valuable minutes in the morning.

There’s more information about the benefits of walking to school on the Living Streets website. And, it’s not just about walking to school, May is National Walking Month, and we fully support the Walk This May campaign.

 

 

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Stay safe in the sun

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We had some fantastic weather a couple of weekends ago and it looks like it will be back for this Bank Holiday Weekend, so we’re sure you’ll be out enjoying the sunshine.

Even though it’s spring, the sun now is as strong as it is in August so we hope you’re taking the right precautions for your children.

Here’s a reminder of some sun safety tips for your little ones.
• Encourage children to play in the shade, especially between 11 am and 3 pm when the sun is strongest. Keep babies younger than six months out of the sun altogether.
• Loose cotton clothes are best. Try and cover up as much of their skin as you can and encourage them to keep hats on
• Regularly apply high factor sun cream, especially after swimming. Don’t forget shoulders, neck, noses, and tops of feet! Make sure your sunscreen offers good UVA and UVB protection
• Look for sunglasses that meet the BSEN 1836:2005 British Standard and carry the CE mark.
Enjoy the weather safely!

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