Pupil wins signed shirt and ball from Premiership team

Mike Penning, road safety minister, visited a primary school in Birmingham to present a prize to the winner of a competition organised by the THINK! team in partnership with a Premiership football club.

Simran Kaur, from Grove Vale Primary School in Great Barr, was chosen at random as the lucky competition winner. Her prize was a signed West Bromwich Albion FC shirt and football.

The competition was part of a new partnership between the THINK! campaign and West Brom. The competition for primary schools in the Sandwell area invited pupils to answer road safety questions using THINK!’s Tales of the Road website.

The new initiative will see the Premiership club using its after-school clubs, in school activities and match days to help youngsters learn about road safety. To date the pilot scheme has been rolled out in 10 primary schools in the Sandwell area to help six to 11-year-olds learn how to find safe places to cross the road.

Mike Penning said: "I hope this scheme will see more children gain in knowledge and confidence so that we will see fewer tragedies on the roads in the West Midlands."

Rob Lake, director of The Albion Foundation, said: “With the support of first-team players, we’ve used many of our regular sessions with school children around Sandwell to get across the road safety message.

“It’s important that they not only understand basic road safety skills, but that they also know how to put them into practice, and their response has been fantastic.”

Click here to read the full DfT press release.