Crucial Crew competition winner announced

Eleven year old Safiyah Hashim is this year’s Stevenage ‘Crucial Crew’ picture competition winner.

Safiyah entered the picture competition when she took part in the Crucial Crew initiative in June of this year. The children were asked to design a poster relating to the event and what they have learnt or done as a result of attending.

Safiyah’s winning design was chosen from hundreds of entries and on Monday 4 November she was presented with £50 worth of gift vouchers by Stevenage Chief Inspector Graeme Walsingham, who attended a special assembly at Safiyah’s former school – Moss Bury Primary School, to meet Safiyah.

Coordinated by Child Safety Media, Crucial Crew is a multi-agency scheme involving Hertfordshire Constabulary, Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, East of England Ambulance Service, Stevenage FC Foundation and North Herts & Stevenage School Nursing Team.

Over the seven day course children in year six (aged 10-11 years) cover topics such as personal safety, cyber awareness, water safety, fire safety, first aid, encouraging an active lifestyle, being a good citizen, health & wellbeing and crime prevention.

Chief Inspector Graeme Walsingham said: “I was delighted to meet Safiyah, present her with her prize and see her artwork.

 “The Crucial Crew initiative is extremely valuable for young students in our community, as it provides them with the opportunity to learn personal safety skills in a fun way, which may not always be available to them within the national curriculum.”

Callum Newbury, Head Teacher of Moss Bury Primary School added: “Crucial Crew is a vital scheme that ensures that the children of our community learn skills and knowledge around safety, a thread that is essential in our curriculum here at Moss Bury. The children always return to school with life-long memories and important strategies for keeping safe. We are very proud of Safiyah's achievement and want to thank all those that were involved in the presentation today.'