Safety Stacey revealed as new superhero to keep Northamptonshire safe this summer

The reveal of the summer safety mascot at Grosvenor Shopping Northampton. Photo: Photocall-Events

The new face of Northamptonshire Police's summer safety campaign for 2019 was revealed at an event at Grosvenor Shopping Northampton on Saturday (July 13).

Safety Stacey was borne from the imagination of Mahima Begun, and will now star on all the leaflets, stickers and badges promoting important summer safety messages in Northampton.

Mahima, aged 10 and a pupil at St James Primary School, also received £100 worth of vouchers to spend at The Entertainer store based at the Grosvenor centre.

PCSO Naomi Coote, of the Northampton Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This was the third year we have held the summer safety campaign, and were delighted with the number of people who came along to support the event.

“We asked local primary school children to design a new superhero for this year’s campaign.

"The poster competition certainly caught their imagination but was a fun way to spread what is a serious safety message.

“The feedback from our partner agencies was very positive, however we could not have done it without their support, and of course funding from the police, fire and crime commissioner, Stephen Mold, and the Grosvenor Shopping Northampton.”

Safety Stacey will feature on leaflets and adverts for the police campaign. Photo: Photocall-Events

The campaign saw the Northampton Neighbourhood Policing Team join forces with the Northamptonshire office of the police fire and crime commissioner, Embrace CVoC and RNLI, to tour eight primary schools last month.The schools which took part were: Abington Vale Stirling Campus, Abington Vale Park Campus, Barry Primary, Stimpson Avenue Academy, Kings Heath Primary School, Earl Spencer Primary School, St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and St James Primary School.

To showcase what they had learned, pupils were then invited to create their own superhero that embodied those safety messages and enter it to be the new lead of Northamptonshire Police’s campaign.

As well as Mahima’s winning design, runners-up were selected from each school, while there was also special recognition for Azmi Ali, a year five pupil at St James, who designed a collection of superheroes, with each representing a key summer safety message.

Sarah Beach, head teacher at St James, added: “We’re very proud of all the students that entered the summer safety and as a school we’re incredibly proud that Mahima’s design came out on top.

Mahima Begun with her winning design, Safety Stacey, with police officers and PFCC Stephen Mold at the Grosvenor Centre. Photo: Photocall-Events

“Mahima is a lovely girl and always displays our school values: courage, service and respect. We love the fun superhero design she put together and after the presentation she could not wait to get started with it.

“With the holidays nearly here, those summer safety messages are important and we’re pleased that Northants Police and Northamptonshire office of the police, fire and crime commissioner came to our school to talk to our kids about it.”

James Roberts, centre manager at Grosvenor Shopping Northampton, added: “With the school holidays nearly upon us, we were more than delighted to be able to host Northamptonshire Police’s Summer Safety campaign.

“To be able to see first-hand the superhero designs that the local kids put together was superb too.

"Safety Stacey is a worthy winner, but there were a lot of cool and creative designs. Overall, it was a fantastic event and we’re so pleased we could be part of it.”