Road safety poster competition highlights the dangers of distraction to primary pupils
Pictured (top right) are Wilkin Chapman Partner and Head of the Beverley office, Teresa Thomas (left) with Ruth Gore from Safer Roads Humber launching the competition, which will be judged by Wilkin Chapman Partner Steve Hennegan (bottom centre).
‘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 this week, Wilkin Chapman solicitors, has joined forces with Safer Roads Humber, the Road Safety team at Hull City Council and Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance to launch the competition.
The firm, with an office in Beverley serving Hull and East Yorkshire, as well as five other offices across Northern and Greater Lincolnshire, 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.
The winning design will receive 60 high vis jackets (20 of three different sizes) for their school and see their banner design printed onto canvas to be displayed at their school. All the designs will be put onto a YouTube channel.
Entries, open to primary schools in the HU, YO or DN postcode areas covering the Hull, Beverley and Driffield areas, and Northern Lincolnshire, will be judged by Wilkin Chapman Partner, Steve Hennegan; Ruth Gore of Safer Roads Humber and Allan Robins, Road Safety officer at Hull City Council.
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.
The majority of the accidents are not going to and from school – but at other times, so, getting children to think about the distractions and hazards will open their eyes to things around them at all times. Safer Roads Humber has a target to reduce road deaths and serious injuries amongst children and young people by at least 50 per cent between 2011 and 2020.
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.”
Allan Robins, added: “Making children much more aware of how distractions can be a main factor in the cause of accidents is vital and we look forward to seeing some great banner designs, which will offer a reminder to all.”
Primary schools across Hull, Beverley, East Yorkshire and North and North East Lincolnshire 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.
