‘I feel very scared’: Youngsters campaign for school crossing
PUPILS campaigning for a crossing outside their school have written heartfelt letters to the community to raise awareness of their cause.
Parents, staff and children at St Peter’s Primary School, Hinckley, are calling for a crossing on London Road, after several near misses in recent months.
A petition has been signed by more than 2,000 people and is backed by town councillors.
Now pupils have penned letters online to outline their concerns.
Vincent, eight, a member of the school council, wrote: “I am writing to you because London Road is still bad and the cars keep on speeding and we really need a school crossing and we don’t need to learn how to cross the road safely and we really need a lollipop lady or anybody who wants to do it.
“We are not happy without a crossing. Please help us we really need a lollipop lady. I feel very scared.”
Parent Joanne Thompson has formed a committee of parents working to get the crossing installed, after her six-year-old was almost hit by a car while crossing the road on the way to school.
She said: “I am so passionate about the fact that these near-misses can’t carry on. What if this actually happened to another family? It was so close.
“He could’ve been maimed or killed. Why should we have to risk our children to get a crossing installed outside a school?”
Henry, 10, who is also on the school council, wrote to the Hinckley Times.
He said: “Every day when I come to school, I see little kids, who really want to go to school to see their friends, not being able to cross the road since if they do, they might get hit by a car.
“There has already been one accident that led to some bad consequences like a broken leg. It shouldn’t be dangerous just to get to school.
“Please help the kids who are scared to go to school by putting up a crossing.”
Hinckley county and borough councillor Stuart Bray helped set up the petition.
He said: “I’ve had a steady trickle of complaints over the last five years or so. I’ve raised this multiple times at Leicestershire County Council.
“The problem arose at the retirement of the school crossing patrol and the inability to find a replacement. “Having tried and failed to fill the post, my feeling and that of local residents is that the county council should fund a permanent crossing at the site which is in a busy town centre location.”
A Leicestershire County Council spokesman said: “We are aware of the petition and will review and investigate as we do with all petitions once it has been formally submitted after the closing date.”
You can sign the petition on the county council website.