Recent Events across Caerphilly
Back to CaerphillyChallenge at the Cheese
At the Big Cheese this year a record-breaking number of visitors came to the ‘Road Safety in Action’ marquee. Caerphilly’s Road Safety Team was able to give advice and help about a wide-range of subjects ranging from child car safety seats to cycling safety.
Children as young as 3 years old took part in painting over 300 posters with road safety themes in a special area set aside for them.
278 people entered a free competition to win a mountain bike. The rules of the competition required them to provide their mobile phone number. During the next three months, all of those who entered will be sent ten free road safety texts using the council’s CyberK8 text messaging system. This will provide regular reminders well after the event.
110 high visibility jackets were sold. These are small enough to be stored under a seat or inside a door pocket, so that in an emergency they can be put on before getting out of the car.
244 entries were received in the ‘Find the Bike Fault’ competition.
There were two bikes at the marquee that had a number of faults. The challenge for visitors was to see how many they could find. Gathered around the bikes could often be seen groups of parents and children, competing to see who could find the most faults.
This gave an ideal opportunity for the team to promote the use of cycle helmets, using as evidence of their importance a collection of helmets damaged in serious incidents. As a result over 250 Raleigh adult and child cycling helmets were sold at the subsidised price of £5.00.
Mrs. Tufty, who regularly visits infant and nursery schools teaching the right way to behave out on the roads was recognised by many of the children that came to the marquee. One young lady brought her father all the way across the site in order to meet with Mrs. Tufty, who she knew would be there, having come to last year’s event. She had also saved up her pocket money so she could buy one of the cycling helmets that were on offer.
New this year was the chance for children and adults to design their own road safety-themed badge, which were made for them whilst they were waiting. This was so popular that the team lost count of how many badges were designed and made!
One of the main aims of the exhibition was for Caerphilly residents and visitors to be aware of the extent of the road safety education and training that is provided around the authority. The team also had the opportunity to interact with all types of road users, discussing topics as varied as cycle helmets, training for newly-qualified drivers and seat belt use.
It was also very encouraging to see children with their parents finding themselves on the photographs of the Kerbcraft Pedestrian training scheme. Parents and carers were able to meet the co-ordinators of the scheme and discuss the benefits of the training. This year saw the highest number of children trained since the scheme started.
