Multi-talented Fay Goodman’s passion for music, film-making and martial arts has earned her an international reputation. Now her equally-strong fervor for crime prevention and road safety has taken her down a new avenue – creating a multi-media programme for primary schools featuring a family of traffic cones who deliver road and personal safety messages through their comic adventures.
Fay, who runs Goodmedia, an independent film company specialising in television, documentaries and music production, is also managing director of DriveSafe & StaySafe, which has championed personal safety for many years and whose latest initiative is to introduce The Conies to schoolchildren around the country.
To get The Conies up and running, five schools produced entries for the DriveSafe & StaySafe road safety song content – with rock legend Ric Wakeman judging the rap song ‘It’s All About Road Safety’ from Delves Infant School, Walsall, to be the winner.
The song contest accompanied the official launch of The Conies, a new video series for primary schools featuring a family of traffic cones. The multimedia programme also incorporates interactive games, teaching packs and other e-learning resources, developed with input from the pupils and teachers of Solihull Junior School and St Alphege Junior School.
West Midlands Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Yvonne Mosquito, who gave the keynote speech in support of the initiative, said: “Past Government campaigns to engage with young people through Tufty the Squirrel and the Green Cross Code Man did a lot of good work, but there are still a shockingly high number of children involved in road accidents each year. The Conies capture the essence of these child-focused campaigns by making road safety fun and stimulating. These entertaining characters will become nationally recognised as a symbol of good practice for children on the roads, and there is no reason why they should not also become a means for delivering safety message to young people all over the world.”
Fay, a long-term member of Birmingham Chamber who has just become the latest Premier Plus member of the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), said that The Conies could be compared to the Green Cross Code Man: “He saved many lives – including mine. My vision is for our little Conies to keep children of all ages safe by engaging with them in their fun cone-shaped world where road signs come to life.
“Child road accidents are on the up – reversing years of decline – with almost 70 percent occurring within 500 metres of schools, and OFSTED has raised the bar against which schools are being measured and assessed for pupil safety. That is why The Conies have such a vital role to play.”
The newly launched website for Conies World is at www.theconiesworld.co.uk and the DriveSafe & StaySafe website is at www.drivesafe-staysafe.co.uk
Pictured: l-r: Saqib Bhatti, ABCC President; Fay Goodman and Russell Jeans, Chamber Director of membership and business services.
