Safety campaign goes on tour.
Children’s road safety heroes The Conies have struck a chord with one of the UK’s leading recruitment groups as the nation celebrates Road Safety Week (November 20-26).
Midlands-based Pertemps Network Group has matched the money raised by the charity from busking and other musical fundraising events across Europe to the tune of £10,000.
The brainchild of Fay Goodman, Director of Birmingham road safety organisation DriveSafe & StaySafe, The Conies are an animated family of traffic cones that take part in amusing and instructive adventures to help children improve their road safety.
Fay, who launched The Conies in a new Walking to School Journal trialled successfully across a number of Birmingham primary schools this year, aims to make the characters as much of a role model in safety education as the Green Cross Code man and Tufty the Squirrel were in their day.
Tim Watts, Lifetime President of Pertemps, presented a giant cheque for £10,000 to Fay to support her efforts in promoting an initiative that matches his company’s health and safety ethos. Fay joined special guest artist Mohinder Singh, a tabla player who performed recently with Take That, violinist Pete Harley and The Celturian on The Conies fundraising tour.
Fay, who is also a world-leading martial artist, said: “We used a mystical fusion of 4,000-year-old tabla rhythms by Mohinder and 400-year-old Japanese sword kata, as well as a Tessan dance (a war dance using fans), to provide a dramatic and rewarding show that thrilled our audiences.”
Tim Watts, also a Conies Ambassador, said: “Pertemps are proud supporters of The Conies. This fantastic charity works to raise road safety awareness and helps to save the lives of children. Fay works extremely hard to organise fun and different events to raise funds for the charity and I am pleased to be able to help out such a brilliant cause.”
Fay Goodman said: “I am delighted by this generous donation which will help turn our ambitious plans to reality, and I hope that other high profile companies will follow this wonderful lead. It is devastating to hear of a child being seriously injured or, worse, killed – and essential that we do all we can to help children and guide their parents and other adults in all dangerous environments. This is particularly pertinent as we acknowledge Road Safety Week 2017.”
Fay added: “A second pilot of our highly successful Walking to School Safety Journal will be distributed to schools in Aston, Nechells and Newtown during January 2018. I am thrilled that The Conies are taking off so successfully and engaging with children from the age of four upwards. We may have only just started but we are ready to take on the world!”
