Ipswich Crucial Crew marks 30 years of safety scheme

Crucial Crew has been run by Ipswich Borough Council's Community Safety Team since 1994 and brings students aged 10 and 11 from across town to teach them how to be more aware of their safety. 

This year marks 30 years since opening, along with the scheme reaching a milestone of 45,000 students being taught over the years.

At the venue, charities such as Volunteering Matters, Turning Point and Lighthouse Women’s Aid gave their interactive lessons. 

Volunteering Matters changed their lesson this year to focus on online safety (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Volunteering Matters lesson this year focused more on the online safety of students. 

Their volunteers said: "We have prepared this course with the help of other students, as we wanted to talk more in-depth about how the online world works and what issues can arise from it."

The charity also created a booklet for teachers to take with them, adding: "We cannot teach everything about social media in 28 minutes, so we really need teachers to push the safety of their students further in their classes."

Turning Point gave the students a lesson on substance misuse (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Meanwhile, Turning Point focused its seminar on alcohol and drug use.

Volunteer Ella Harris said: "These children will soon come to be around alcohol and drugs more frequently as they enter high school, so we need to teach them what effects they could have."

Lighthouse are attempting to do an art project where children add post-it notes to spell 'respect'. (Image: Shikhar Talwar)

Lighthouse Women’s Aid began an art project with the children asking them to write their names on post-it notes and add them to a poster that would spell out the word 'respect'.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue also carried out a fire safety drill (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Ipswich Mayor Elango Elavalakan was also present to mark the occasion (Image: Charlotte Bond)

Additionally,  Suffolk Police and Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service hosted their own talks about anti-social behaviour and fire safety, with aid from the Rotary Club of Ipswich Wolsey.

Members from Ipswich Borough Council were present to mark the anniversary, as Ipswich Mayor Elango Elavalakan said: "Crucial Crews gives us an opportunity to help children learn some very important skills for the rest of their lives."