Schoolchildren, the Green Cross Code man and Croydon’s best-known little terrier will gather at Fairfield for this year’s Mayoral presentation to the borough’s junior road safety officers (JRSOs).
The council’s road safety team will be hosting the seventh annual event – the largest of its kind in the capital – with children from primary schools providing road safety messages to their peers, teachers and parents.
The Mayor of Croydon, Councillor Manju Shahul-Hameed, will present certificates to the groups of JRSOs who have championed road safety in their schools.
Guests will include Dave Prowse, the original Green Cross Code man, and Hamish McFee, the JRSOs’ West Highland white terrier mascot and RSPCA Animal Hero Award winner.
About 200 JRSOs will attend, wearing their branded high-visibility jackets, and, on entering, will be photographed with the stilt-wearing Smart Brothers, and then entertained by two theatre companies using comedy and interactivity to reinforce road safety messages.
The council’s JRSO scheme encourages primary schoolchildren to become more involved with road safety issues as a road user, pedestrian, car passenger or cyclist.
They receive a guidance pack, badge, certificate, hi-vis jacket and pencil case, and then use the guidance notes to come up with ways of devising their own scheme – with the support of the council’s road safety team.
“We take road safety very seriously and, to that end, have one of the largest number of junior road safety officers of all the London boroughs.
“It’s fantastic to see so many youngsters coming together and being made aware of the importance of road safety.
“This annual event is our way of saying thank-you to them for all the hard work they do in getting important road safety messages across, not only to their friends and fellow pupils, but also to their parents and guardians, who can often forget or overlook the basics of taking care on the roads.”
Councillor Mark Watson, cabinet member for safety and justice
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