Renfrewshire school children are set to learn about road safety with some help from a special safety mascot.
A new awareness programme by the Keep Safe initiative, developed by Renfrewshire community group I Am Me and Police Scotland, will see mascot Keep Safe Sam visit primary schools in the area to promote safety messages for children.
Keep Safe aims to support and encourage disabled, vulnerable and elderly people to live safely and enjoy ordinary day-to-day activities without fear of abuse, intimidation and harassment.
Members of I Am Me/Keep Safe will head out on a new tour of local schools to raise awareness from March of this year until March 2018.
To mark the initiative, the loveable bear was joined by pupils from Williamsburgh Primary School and Sergeant Kenny Malaney from Police Scotland for a special launch event at Renfrewshire House, Paisley.
KeepSafe Sam was also helped by a blast from the past at the event, as he appeared in a vintage, mini Hillman Imp.
The vehicle, previously built in Linwood, once belonged to much-loved police road safety mascot Shiny Buttons and is now kept in the Paisley museum store.
With that in mind, the Keep Safe programme are backing Paisley’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021, which aims to use the town’s unique heritage and cultural story to transform its future.
I Am Me project manager Carol Burt said: “It is vitally important that children understand how to act safely around busy roads and the Keep Safe initiative aims to minimise risks by promoting clear and simple safety messages to children.
“Keep Safe Sam has already met over 6000 primary 1-7 pupils across Renfrewshire and the programme will see us visit local primary schools across Renfrewshire to teach pupils about keeping safe in a fun and engaging way.
“I am also delighted to back Paisley’s bid to be UK City of Culture in 2021 and it is nice to be able to revisit a small and fondly-remembered part of Renfrewshire’s heritage while promoting road safety.”
The Keep Safe project was launched in partnership with Roar: Connections for Life (formerly known as Reaching Older Adults in Renfrewshire), who are running a road safety programme with older people across Renfrewshire.
Roar: Connections for Life general manager Nicola Hanssen said: “It’s crucial that we promote road safety to primary school pupils from across Renfrewshire from a young age.
“We are working in partnership with Keep Safe and Police Scotland to look after people for as long as possible. Road safety is not just for children, it’s about giving people the knowledge to keep safe for life.”