Community Safety Task Group
In the last 12 months the Community Safety Task Group has been busy promoting safety to the residents and visitors in the Bridgnorth district.
At the beginning of last year a number of ambitious and innovative projects were progressed by the Task Group membership and these have made a real difference to people of all ages in the Bridgnorth area. Only by sharing information and developing good working relationships within the Group was success with community engagement achieved.
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Bridgnorth District Community Safety Partnership Water Safety Campaign 'Don't Drink and Drown'.
At the top of our list of projects was Water Safety. The Group, in partnership with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), supported by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) and the Pub Watch Scheme, produced and distributed 25,000 beer mats with a water safety message to public houses close to the River Severn and other water hazards across the district. The campaign called ‘Don’t Drink and Drown’ was aimed at young people aged between 18 and 30. The project was then expanded to promoting a water safety message to all age groups and weatherproof water safety posters were erected at a large number of water hazards in the Bridgnorth area. The whole project was run to coincide with the summer weather. The campaign was very successful with a 50% drop in persons requiring assistance in water by SFRS through the summer period as compared with figures from previous years in the Bridgnorth area.
Running simultaneously was the Cycle Safety project. The Group gave a large amount of funding to the County Road Safety Team who organised and delivered 7 plays at primary level and 5 plays in senior schools across the district.
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Photographs from the Community Safety Open Day at Bridgnorth Fire Station.
Together, in partnership with the Community Council of Shropshire and SFRS, the Task Group organised and funded a Community Safety Open Day at Bridgnorth Fire Station. Over 20 community support groups exhibited and over 700 people from across the district attended the event. This was a very successful event which engaged the community in such themes as road and home safety, money matters, fire safety and alcohol and drug abuse.
With this success, further smaller events in Albrighton, Alveley and Broseley in the form of Community Safety Workshop mornings called ‘Celebrate Safely’ were held leading up to Christmas. These also proved to be successful, with up to 10 exhibitors promoting safety in the home, road safety in inclement weather and engaging the public in many more themes.
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Exhibitors who attended the Christmas Safety Road Show held at the Victoria Hall in Broseley on Friday 1st December 2006.
Bonfire Safety was another project that the Task Group promoted in conjunction with SFRS and Trading Standards. A number of safety messages were dispatched throughout the district via the media and supported by guidance leaflets and essential contact numbers for advice. This community safety campaign again was very successful, with fewer calls being attended by SFRS as compared with previous years in the Bridgnorth district.
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Pictured with the Bridgnorth Fire appliance are back: Connie Baines of Bridgnorth Town Council, Chris Ammonds of Safety Camera Partnership and Tracy Johnson of Bridgnorth District Community Safety Partnership; front: Retained Support Officer Dave Jennings, District Officer Jim Quinn and Kerry Rogers of Bridgnorth District Community Safety Partnership. |
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District Officer Jim Quinn and Councillor John Hurst-Knight, Chairman of Bridgnorth District Community Safety Partnership and member of Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority pictured with a Bridgnorth Council refuse collection vehicle. |
Of course, Road Safety has been one of the Task Group’s priorities and, as can be seen, has formed part of the theme in a number of the Group’s projects over the past twelve months. Another innovative project which the Group has championed has been the fitting of road safety posters containing stark road safety messages to a number of Bridgnorth Town Council utility vehicles and also to the Bridgnorth District Council’s refuse vehicles. These vehicles operate six days a week across the district and it is hoped that this project will help ‘drive’ the road safety message safely home to the people who live and work in the Bridgnorth area. Again, this is a good example of partnership working with Camera Safety Partnership and SFRS. The group contributed to a joint ‘Don’t Drink and Drive campaign' with Shropshire Access Partnership on Beacon Radio over the Christmas period. The task group also contributed the Safer Bridgnorth Scheme, providing the scheme with essential life saving equipment.
Another project currently being undertaking, which has been part funded by the Group, is the Claverley Map Grid Reference Scheme. This scheme is being run in conjunction with our partners SFRS and West Mercia Police. Such schemes are set up in the form of partnership agreements and can also encompass other organizations working within the community such as Neighborhood Watch, Young Farmers and Women’s Institute etc. This is an address and map reference scheme where key partners process the address details for the area concerned and provide householders with a laminated card giving their full postal address with a 12 figure map reference. This card is then kept by the telephone for use by the occupier in the event of an emergency.
Claverley Community Safety Open Day at All Saints Church on 2nd June 2007.
Agendas
Notes
Action Plan
Contact Information
For more information or to get involved in the Community Crime and Disorder Group or Bridgnorth District Community Safety please contact:
Bridgnorth District Community Safety Team,
Bridgnorth District Council,
Westgate,
Bridgnorth, WV16 5AA
Telephone: 01746 713100
Email: www.bridgnorthcsp.gov.uk
