Stevenage Borough Council played host to the first General Meeting of the Child Safety Education Coalition (CSEC) on Tuesday, 14th July, at the Council offices.

CSEC is a newly formed organisation, funded by a £1.6m grant from the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), and is a partnership between the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), and is tasked with promoting child safety education through the provision of Crucial Crew schemes – particularly in areas where no scheme currently exists, or within areas of deprivation.

The morning’s programme was for the Executive, and after a lunch provided by CESC, the General Meeting was addressed by Cllr. David Kissane; the newly appointed CSEC representatives were introduced, and two presentations were given on Continuing Professional Development (CPD), in Personal, Social, & Health Education (PSHE), and AdRisk – the development of a European strategy for injury prevention amongst adolescents.

The Meeting was Chaired by Janice Cave MBE, Director of Public Affairs at RoSPA,

Attended by 40 Delegates, including representatives from the Dept. of Transport, Dept of Children Schools & Families, Dept. of Health, Cabinet Office, child safety organisations, fire services, police, together with those from Crucial Crew schemes around the Country.

The link with CSEC was through our local Crucial Crew scheme, an annual event and now in its 17th Year, and Hertfordshire Crucial Crew – the permanent Safety Centre to be built here in Stevenage for the benefit of all Hertfordshire schools and residents, at a cost of £2m.