Children spread the word on road safety
Thursday 17 July 2008
Young worshippers at a Hornsey mosque have been praised for their efforts to promote road safety at an event to mark the completion of a special Haringey Council community project.
Four young people – Amina, Saba, Salma and Masuma Begum - were presented with gift vouchers in recognition of their contributions to two road safety leaflets for use by young and adult attendees at the London Islamic Cultural Society Mosque in Wightman Road, N8.
The children’s leaflet – called Bee Safe, Bee Seen When Crossing the Road -contains a range of road safety advice and information, such as the Green Cross Code and the importance of wearing bright or reflective materials if out at night.
Meanwhile, the adult leaflet – Just Cross Carefully and Arrive Alive – explains how to fit child car seats properly, sets out an A to Z of road safety and encourages parents to help with school crossing patrols.
More than 200 people attended the event on Sunday 13 July, which marked the end of a project to raise road awareness among around 5,000 worshippers at the mosque.
Members of the council’s Road Safety Team gave a presentation to highlight activities and achievements since the project began in September 2007.
The scheme has included advice on car safety and promoting alternative transport to the car through targeted leaflets, workshops, theatre performances and competitions.
Haringey also held an In Car Safety Day in May, at which residents were given free car seat checks and advice on correctly fitting child car seats at the nearby African Caribbean Centre in Clarendon Road.
The safety project was aimed at addressing the disproportionate amount of road deaths among some sections of the community.
Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has shown that people living in areas of high deprivation are at least twice as likely to be killed or seriously injured in road accidents as those living in more affluent areas. It also indicates that children from black African communities are currently over-represented in accident statistics.
Large numbers of attendees at the London Islamic Cultural Society Mosque come from more deprived wards in Haringey, and they represent a wide range of ethnic groups.
Cabinet Member for Environment and Conservation, Cllr Brian Haley, said:
“I’d like to congratulate all the young winners of the leaflet competition for their very imaginative and creative designs.
“We’ve invested heavily in recent years to improve road safety across Haringey, and deaths and serious injuries on our roads have now fallen to a record low.
“But we need to ensure that the road safety message gets through to all of our communities, as statistics show that some groups are far more likely to be hurt or killed on the road.
“The road safety programme at Wightman Road Mosque is just one example of how we are trying to address this issue. It’s been a very positive programme and I hope it will help us further cut accidents on our roads.”
Other children whose designs were used in the leaflets were: Sabina Shamsad, Irfan Shamsad, Usman Haroon, Saeed Ali, Aneesa Shahid, Sajida Ali, Muneerah Ali, Bilal Din, Mariam Khan, Nashwa Ali, Laila Ahmed, Hannan Hashim and Mariam Mohammed.
Haringey Council is currently undertaking a similar two-year project at the Edmonton Islamic Centre in partnership with Enfield Council.
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