The young moped riders with Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe and Dale-Nicole Wheeldon from Warwickshire County Council’s Targeted Youth Support service.
Young people from Nuneaton’s Camp Hill area were given vital road safety skills as part of a moped riding session, funded by Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe.
The popular summer holiday initiative received grant funding from the Commissioner for the first time last year and due to its success has been continued this year. Mr Seccombe recently visited the project, run by Warwickshire County Council’s Targeted Youth Support service. While there, he saw for himself how it teaches young people about the risks behind using motor vehicles, how to use them safely and not in an anti-social manner.
Youth worker Dale-Nicole Wheeldon, who runs the sessions for young people who attend the CHESS Centre, said: “We run classroom sessions designed to improve the young people’s understanding and knowledge of the impact of anti-social riding on the community, and potential consequences for the young person.
“The practical riding activities help to develop skills and procedures that will minimise the risk of collision. They learn how to ride the mopeds safely, looking at general road safety information as a group. The instructors do this whilst emphasising that these skills should only be put into practice when riding is safe, legal and appropriate.
“We had 22 young people over two weeks last year and we’ve had quite a lot of them wanting to go on it again this year.”
Warwickshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Seccombe said: “I was really pleased to hear that there was a road safety element to this project and they do go through some of the basic elements of road safety, about speed, awareness and about use of the roads and the dangers that are there. It fits well with one of my priorities, to make Warwickshire’s roads as safe as we can.”
Mr Seccombe added: “This is money really well spent and it gives the young people taking part an activity and diversionary bit of fun to take them away from perhaps what they would be doing otherwise. That’s why I back this project, that’s why I fund it, because it can make a difference to children’s lives.”
This project ran during National Road Victim Month, held annually in August to remember those who have died or been injured on our roads and raise awareness to the dangers of roads.
