Pupils who took part in a road safety campaign run by building
materials firm, Lafarge Aggregates & Concrete UK, now have a
standout souvenir.
Schoolchildren at Roundhill Community College in Thurmaston
collected bright orange hoodies from Lafarge staff as the
culmination of the pioneering project.
The hoodie was the winning entry in a competition challenging
youngsters to come up with a piece of high visibility clothing or
accessory.
Designed by Lara Batchelor, aged 12, the hoodies were
manufactured by local company Revolution.
Lara was delighted to be one of the first Year 7 pupils to pick
up the finished article. She said:
"I never thought I would win the competition. I just thought I
would have a go.
"It was fantastic when I found out that my design had won. I
think the hoodie looks brilliant and I can't wait to wear it."
John Dargie, head of distribution and customer service centre
for aggregates at Lafarge, said:
"Our road safety campaign with Roundhill was an enormous success
and will become the inspiration for other projects at our sites up
and down the country.
"For Lafarge, health and safety is paramount and road safety in
particular is a key area.
"We wanted to make youngsters more savvy when it comes to road
safety and more aware of road users, especially HGVs."
Among the highlights of the project were fun sessions on
guessing stopping distances and blind spots and getting a real
'view from the cab' drivers' eye view by climbing on board a
Lafarge HGV delivery truck.
Students were also invited to create 'Newsround style' mini
films based around road incident scenarios and take part in two
competitions - one to design a hi-vis item and the other to produce
a safety poster to be used for future initiatives.
Year 7 pupils Dhilesh Chauhan and Ruby Morriss were joint
winners of the poster competition with their entries combined to
create one 'Be a stranger to danger' cycle-safe, road safety
message.
Pauline Munro, principal at Roundhill, said:
"All our Year 7 pupils who took part in the project said they
had a great time and learnt a lot.
"I think Lafarge should be commended for reaching out into the
community and being proactive in spreading the road safety message
in a way which appeals to youngsters and ensures they take
information on board which will help keep them safe."