Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service has been involved in a number of safety campaigns over the Christmas and New Year period.
The first major project focuses on the dangers of drink driving. The campaign (Drink OR Drive), which is being co-run with the county’s Road Safety Unit and Police Force, is aimed specifically at men aged between 35 and 50 and involves the use of specially designed promotional materials such as beer mats and posters. These have been widely distributed around the county’s clubs, pubs and bars. According to statistics released by Warwickshire, around 3,000 people in the UK are killed or injured in drink-drive related road accidents every year. Although this happens across a range of age groups, it is men between the ages of 35 and 50 that – at least in Warwickshire – return most positive breath tests after they have been stopped.
A related scheme is Good Feeling Gone, which emphasises bike safety, fire safety at Christmas, and safety awareness on the part of young drivers. Speaking specifically of the fire safety part of the project, Area Risk Officer Andy Thompson said: “The main aim of the campaign is to produce hard-hitting visuals to make people really think about the devastation fire can cause. We are committed to reducing the number of house fires in Warwickshire especially during special celebrations such as Christmas and New Year. It is essential that we find innovative ways to highlight different fire safety messages and I feel that this is one of the most effective campaigns yet.”
Last of all is the Big Red Fire Engine, a fire-themed learning activity box aimed at making sure that preschool children are aware of safety issues. It contains a range of learning resources, with topics including Hot and Cold and how to react when hearing a fire alarm. Also included are activity ideas, resources for role play as well as books about accident prevention and the role of firefighters. The box, which is part of a pilot scheme for preschool children, was created by the WFRS Community Fire Safety Team. Speaking of the box, Community Safety Liaison Officer Niky Nind said: “The resource pack expands our services to work with pre-school children across Warwickshire and has been created in line with the national curriculum Early Years foundation stage framework. The feedback from pre-schools, nurseries and childminders has been extremely positive so far and we are hoping that the new resource will have an impact on the knowledge of fire safety in readiness for the schools programme.”
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