Children invited to join the ‘Traffic Club’

Children from Lune Park Children’s Centre with County Councillor Fillis at last week’s launch event.

ROAD safety, healthy lifestyles and sustainable travel are high on the agenda for Lancashire County Council’s new children’s traffic clubs, which were officially launched in Preston and Lancaster earlier this week.

The new children’s travel clubs will run in children’s centres, nurseries and primary schools. The idea behind the clubs is to provide parents and carers with user-friendly material to teach their children how to stay safe on the roads and how to develop an active lifestyle by choosing to walk and cycle.

At the heart of the clubs are three DVD packs, which feature weekly activities for children and parents. The DVDs are carefully structured to follow the child’s development. The simplest messages are introduced in the first pack, then repeated through the different characters, stories, games, songs and activities. They gradually increase in complexity through each DVD.

Research has shown that joining the club encourages parents to talk to their children and builds confidence in teaching basic skills in road safety, sustainable travel and active healthy lifestyles.

The Local Sustainable Transport Fund initiative will support the work the county council does with schools to promote road safety, sustainable travel and active lifestyles in Preston, South Ribble and Lancaster. The material will be offered to 32 children’s centres, nurseries and primary schools within the target areas. It has the potential to reach more than 4,600 children and their families.

County Councillor John Fillis, Lancashire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said:

“Keeping children safe and healthy is one of our most important priorities! . This initiative will help families to get the road safety message ac ross to their children at home and encourage more walking and cycling.

“We know from research that involving parents and carers is a highly effective way of changing the behaviour both of children and their families.

“The county council’s road safety team already works closely with schools and children’s centres and I have no doubt this scheme will be both popular and successful.”