Forterra’s Fleet Drivers gave assistance to emergency services crews at Wicksteed Park in Kettering, as part of an event to teach local school children about the dangers of large vehicles.
School children from Kettering with Forterra National Transport Manager Dale Clarke and Sergeant Sean Marshall from Northamptonshire Police
The free, interactive workshop event, which was organised by Northamptonshire’s Community Safety Partnership, was part of Road Safety Week, and was attended by more than 100 children aged between 10 and 11 from St Andrews Church of England Primary School and St Edwards Catholic Primary School in Kettering.
Forterra provided a 10 wheeler lorry which the children could walk around and climb into, with the purpose of learning about a large vehicle’s dangers, such as blind spots and stopping distances. The company also provided goody bags to each of the children.
The children had the opportunity to talk to police officers, paramedics and fire fighters and explore their vehicles, and were schooled on various aspects of keeping safe on and around roads, including a running event which demonstrated how fast vehicles can move.
Engagement Team Leader for Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service’s Safer Roads Team Sara Postlethwaite said, “These events are very important for teaching children about road safety. Forterra kindly offered to provide one of their HGVs as part of the event, as well as drivers to explain to the children how dangerous they can be.
“Events like these can sometimes be affected by emergency service vehicles being called away because of actual emergencies, so it was great to know that Forterra’s lorry and drivers would be there for the duration of the event.”
Dale Clarke, National Transport Manager for Forterra, who attended the event, said; “As a responsible company with a large fleet of vehicles, we want to work with local groups to help make our roads safer. We’re keen to work with schools and other organisations to spread this message, and hope to be doing more events of this nature in future.”