Wooden children have been helping to relay safety messages to people passing schools in the Colwyn Bay area.
PCSO Niki Lodge and PC Ann Westwood of the local Neighbourhood Policing Team organised the ‘Wooden Children’ initiative and had financial support from Police And Community Trust (PACT) & Community Safety.
Promoting safety outside primary schools was the primary aim of the scheme and now 3ft wooden boards are in place outside three primary schools in the vicinity adorning messages such as ‘Remember to stop, look and listen’ and ‘If you park here I won’t be able to cross the road’.
It was thanks to the help of Pinewood Products of Glan Conwy, a group of students from Coleg Llandrillo and three local primary schools together with a £120 PACT that the initiative came to fruition.
Conwy council initiative, Pinewood Products, which employs adults with learning disabilities, expertly crafted the ‘wooden children’. It was then down to Coleg Llandrillo students Jade Morris, Nikita Griffiths, Ashley Roberts and Paige Jones who donated their time along with tutor Robin Williams to attend Ysgol Tan Y Marian, Ysgol Cynfran and Ysgol Llanddulas where they helped pupils bring the wooden children to life by painting them with bright colours and of course adding that all important safety message.
“The end result was fantastic,” said PCSO Niki Lodge, “Each school has four ‘wooden children’ each showing a different, unique safety message, which are being displayed outside the schools attached to the railings.”
Robin Williams is a tutor from Coleg Llandrillo. He said: “Opportunities for Foundation Diploma Art & Design students to work on live community projects in context are invaluable. The requirements of the client, the interpretation of the brief and the development of practical approaches to problem solving and negotiation are all valuable skills that prepare students for work or higher education.
“All four Coleg Llandrillo students are progressing to Higher Education, two to the Foundation Degree (FdA) in Art and Design at Coleg Llandrillo, one to UWIC in Cardiff to study BA Set Design for Film and TV and one to the University of Leeds to study BA Fashion.
He added: “The students really enjoyed working with the children at the schools and spoke highly of their enthusiasm and attention to the task in hand.”
