Community Safety Project Officer for SYP, Andy Foster, said: It is important the Lifewise partnership engage with vulnerable members of our community, and we are all delighted to be working with Sheffield Mencap and the Woodthorpe Development Trust, as well as with Stagecoach Supertram.
This was the first time we have worked with each organisation and all those involved have worked extremely hard to make it happen. Partners delivered key safety messages during the event, with the aim to ensure all those attending had an informative and safety fun filled day. Senior Manager at Sheffield Mencap and Gateway, Elaine McKenna, said: We were extremely excited about the opportunity for our group members to access the Lifewise Centre and to give individual s the chance to learn more about their own safety. The Centre is a great facility and will provide real-life scenarios which is a great way for our students to learn. Lifewise features a purpose-built set, used to educate visitors about safety and citizenship with the ultimate aim of reducing crime and improving quality of life.
Attendees were able to volunteer and get involved in role-playing using the realistic Street Scene on issues including: fire Safety, home security, personal safety, doorstep callers and using Sheffield Supertram safely.
Treana Hudson, Customer Service Coordinator at Stagecoach Supertram, said: “The safety of our passengers is always our first priority, so we’re delighted to have taken part in the safety fun day.
We’re conscious that our more vulnerable customers and their carers face a range of obstacles when using public transport so we’re looking forward to helping them to travel more easily.
We demonstrated the best ways of boarding and exiting our services, introducing the passengers to priority seating and wheelchair use on board, showing how to use the request to stop and door release buttons as well as advising what to do if they forget their travel passes . Learning Disability Services Manager for the Woodthorpe Development Trust Vicki Ambler, said: We were looking forward to visiting the Lifewise event and felt that it would be really beneficial to our service users; a number of whom have been targeted by crime, such as; dealing with doorstep callers and personal safety. It’s an innovative engagement approach on helping our clients stay safe.
The Safer Roads Partnership, also based at the Lifewise Centre, also supported the event and provided a motorbike and a Subaru safety car to show the attendees how they worked and offered road safety advice.