Safety message driven home to Daventry students

Students with fleet driver Gareth Brooks.

Fleet drivers have assisted emergency services crews as part of an event to teach schoolchildren about personal safety and promote community awareness.

Staff from Forterra were involved in the Young Citizen Scheme, organised by Daventry District Council and South Northants Community Safety Partnership,

It took place in Northampton and was attended by more than 300 children over two days, aged between ten and 11 from several local schools.

Forterra, which has its head office based in Northampton, provided a ten wheeler lorry for the event, to help the pupils learn about dangers posed by a large vehicle, such as blind spots and stopping distances. The company also provided free hi-vis vests for each of the children.

The children had the opportunity to talk to police officers, paramedics and fire fighters and took part in other workshops encouraging them to be good citizens, including workshops on crime prevention.

Engagement Team Leader for Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Safer Roads Team Sara Postlethwaite said: “These Young Citizen Schemes are important for teaching children road safety and other crucial life skills.

“Forterra kindly provided one of their HGVs as part of the event, plus drivers to explain to the children how dangerous the vehicles can be.

“Events such as these can sometimes be affected by emergency service vehicles being called away because of actual emergencies, so it was good to know that Forterra’s lorry and drivers would be there for the duration of the event.”

Dale Clarke, national transport manager for Forterra, said; “We are happy to work with local groups to help make our roads safer.”