A team representing the 1st New Addington Girl Guides have walked away as winners at Croydon’s fourth annual all ages Family Safety Challenge quiz finals.
The challenge is run jointly with the council’s housing department and was designed by the London Fire Brigade’s ‘Crossfire’ team. It makes learning about all aspects of household safety both interesting and fun and covers a variety of topics including fire safety and first aid. Alongside the quiz, which includes questions on everything from fire escape plans and the recovery position, to internet safety and protecting against arson, there was also an emergency fire race, with competitors working against the clock to dress as fast as they could as if they had been woken by a fire alarm.
The challenge is growing in popularity every year, and the guides beat off stiff competition from 35 other teams to take part in the finals in a packed Braithwaite Hall in the council’s Clocktower arts complex. In total some 1,300 people of all ages have this year taken part in 60 community events as part of the project.
“Fire safety is a serious matter – but we’ve managed to show how learning about it can be fun. It’s been brilliant to see how many people have taken part in the challenge this year, and congratulations to the guides for walking away with the first prize.”
Councillor Alison Butler, deputy leader and cabinet member for homes, regeneration and planning
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David Gill from London Fire Brigade’s Crossfire team said: “Having a plan for what to do in the case of a fire and knowing some basic first aid are all life-saving skills, and this challenge helps us to teach hundreds of people every year how to stay safe in their homes. It’s a great project and has undoubtedly helped prevent some potential tragedies.
“The aim of this is to illustrate that the awareness of safety in households is not always just the responsibility of the adults and that the whole family can work together to improve their awareness of safety issues.”
The challenge is open to community groups based in or near any of Croydon’s larger council housing developments and it is planned to run again next year.
