A new project is to be launched in Newcastle supporting families (with children under 5 years) in the most disadvantaged wards of the City to improve their home safety.
The WHOOPS! Home Safety Volunteer project, run by Children North East and funded by Newcastle City Council and Players of People’s Postcode Lottery, will educate families on dangers both in and outside of the home environment.
Every year in the UK, over a million children under the age of fifteen are taken to hospital following accidents in and around the home. That equates to nearly 3000 every single day with over half of these children under five years old. Rates of A&E attendances in Newcastle for 0 to 4 year olds are rising and are significantly worse than the England average*.
WHOOPS! Project Co-ordinator and Training and Development Worker, Debbie Ellerby said “WHOOPS! offers a unique early intervention service to increase parents/carers awareness of even the simplest of situations that can cause risk to children”.
“Our Volunteers are trained to deliver this support to families in their homes and to educate parents on the dangers both in and outside of the home environment. As part of this parents will also learn baby and child emergency first aid skills, including how to deal with choking and resuscitation. The first cohort of volunteers have now been fully trained and we welcome more volunteers to join us as part of this exciting project”.
“The WHOOPS! Safety Volunteers benefit from an accredited training package and ongoing training as part of their continuous development and we anticipate this will support individuals with employment and further training opportunities”.