FREE essential safety lessons were delivered to Rochford’s schoolchildren at a three day event teaching vital life skills.

During the three-day event, year six pupils from Ashingdon, Barling, Canewdon, Great Wakering, Hockley, Rochford, Rayleigh and Stambridge attended a series of interactive sessions to learn important life skills, as part of their transition from primary to secondary school.

The Crucial Crew event was organised by Rochford District Community Safety Partnership.

Sessions on road safety, stranger danger, texting and internet, fire safety, healthy relationship, 999 calls, first aid, and railway safety were provided by partner agencies and organisations including Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, Essex County Council, Network Rail, Rochford District Council, Essex Police, Rayleigh Neighbourhood Watch, and a trainee paramedic.

June Lumley, councillor responsible for community, said: “Rochford District Council supports initiatives around the District to ensure that everybody stays safe.

"Crucial Crew plays an important role, as putting children into tricky situations helps them to learn and remember important messages, so that they can prevent or deal with dangerous situations in the future.”

Carole Weston, the chairman of Rochford District Council, attended and took part in all of the sessions, she said: “The lessons at this event are essential for all children as they grow up, and this is evident by the fact that 92 per cent of children who attended the event were loured away by a pretend ‘stranger’ which we had planted.”

“I would like to send my thanks to everybody involved who gave up their own time to help out over the three days, they were instrumental in helping the sessions to be as successful as they were”.

The sessions proved to be a huge success with the children who commented that they would now know what to do if put in a situation which could expose them to potential dangers.