Fire service still teaching kids to stay safe

THOUSANDS of people have been tuning into an education programme provided by Staffordshire Fire and Rescue during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Figures show that just short of 45,000 devices signed in to watch one of the service’s Safe + Sound videos between May and July and September and December last year.

Safe + Sound is the service’s mobile education programme which is usually delivered with the help of partners including Staffordshire Police, the Canal and River Trust, RNLI, St John Ambulance, DHL, HMB Training, Network Rail, Tamworth Borough Council and the Staffordshire Safe Roads Partnership.

Workshops – delivered to pupils in Years 5 and 6 – usually includes topics around fire, road, water, rail, internet and personal safety, emotional wellbeing, anti-social behaviour as well as drug and alcohol awareness.

Education manager at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue, Helen Wood, said the way they work had to change since the pandemic started: “It was a difficult time when the lockdown started in March as we knew we had to come up with a way to still deliver our education service to local children.

“When on station delivery stopped we came up with the concept of delivering Safe + Sound online in the hope we could support families who were needing to educate their children at home.

“This initiative has been a huge success and we are thrilled we, and our partners, can help keep delivering this education service during these unprecedented times.”

All programmes continue to be available on demand on the Learnlive website www.learnliveuk.com/ safesound