Safety Central wins national accolade

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service’s ‘Safety Central’ education centre has been recognised at a national level.

The state-of-the-art indoor safety village was contending against other top quality competition to win the silver award for Community Focus (People) at the iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards.

The award recognised projects which have done most to reinvigorate the local community by engaging with the local residents, building greater resilience and creating less dependency on public services.

Following the award ceremony in London on Thursday 7 March, Centre Manager Mark Shone said: “It’s a real honour to have received this award and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the development of Safety Central for all their hard work and dedication.

“Here at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service we already have an impressive track record in keeping people safe and I believe that Safety Central has taken this to a whole new level.

“Since opening in 2018 we’ve already had over 10,000 visitors and it’s been great to see them as they’ve toured the centre and developed the skills and knowledge they need to stay safe and I look forward to welcoming thousands more visitors in the years ahead.”

Cllr Bob Rudd, Chair of Cheshire Fire Authority said: “We are extremely proud of Safety Central and it’s great to see that it had now been recognised at a national level.

“We know from our work trying to keep communities safe from fire that some people are more at risk than others.

That’s why we worked closely with our friends and colleagues in the NHS, the police, councils, housing and lots of other agencies to bring the centre to life.”

Safety Central uses world-class special effects and interactive technology to help people of all ages develop the skills and knowledge they need to stay safe and well at home, on the road in and in our community.

The £4.5m indoor village is funded by Cheshire Fire Authority and was officially opened September 10, 2018, by Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal.

It features four themed zones:

• Safer Choices - a series of immersive scenarios encouraging people to think about the impact of their decisions including a police custody facility and cell, courtroom, convenience store and a space for learning about online safety

• Safe as Houses - a full-sized three-bedroom family home, shed and garden all rigged to not only demonstrate the most common causes of accidents, but also technologies to help prevent injury and promote independence

• Streetsafe - a dramatic urban environment complete with a road, bridge, toucan crossing, cycle path, railway station, park, canalside, alleyway, building site and electricity substation

• Ruralrisk - recreating Cheshire’s great outdoors...indoors, this zone highlights hidden dangers in the open countryside, forest and lakes, on farms and on rural roads.

For further information about Safety Central, including information on how schools or community groups can book to visit the centre, please visit the Safety Central website (opens in new window)

Date published: Fri, 15 Mar 2019 11:05:53 GMT

Last updated: Friday 15 March 2019