Farewell to Mrs Tufty

The school children of Torfaen County Borough Council have said an emotional farewell to Mrs Tufty.

Viv Carr, who delivers road safety education with the able assistance of Tufty and his friends, said goodbye to the schools she has visited in her role as under sevens organiser, or more commonly, Mrs Tufty, as she retired after 27 years.

Zach Evans, year six pupil at Croesyceiliog Primary School, summed up the feeling of the whole school in a beautifully hand written letter: “Your lessons were entertaining and light hearted…and your puppet friends…will stick in the mind for many generations. Your messages well worded and your activities original and fun.”

One of the hazards of being Mrs Tufty was being recognised in many places – in the supermarket, at the swimming pool and even on a Spanish beach! Viv also reckons there were times when she had more conversations in a day with Tufty than she had with her husband.

Colleagues past and present say goodbye to Mrs Tufty (centre, wearing a burnt orange scarf)

Viv’s car was broken into some years ago, and the thieves stole all of her puppets.  Could it have had something to do with Willy Weasel’s naughty friends? It made headlines in the South Wales Argus, and despite pleas for them to be returned they remain lost to this day.

Colleagues past and present gathered at Llanyrafon Manor in Cwmbran to wish Viv well in her retirement.  Penny Thorpe, former principal road safety officer for Gwent, presented Viv with a memento from Road Safety Wales marking the contribution she has made to road safety during her career.

Want to find out more about RoSPA’s retired road safety squirrel? Visit www.rospa.com/about/history/tufty.aspx

Ann Horton, RoSPA Wales’ road safety officer

Students harness the power of media to highlight anti-drink-drive messages

Road Safety Wales is proud to unveil this year’s winners of the fifth All Wales Multimedia Anti Drink Drive Competition which challenges schools, colleges and youth groups to devise, perform and record a multimedia presentation with an anti-drink-drive message in time for Christmas.

The competition, which was launched in September 2012, saw groups of 11-25 year olds invited to use a variety of genre – film, music, PowerPoint, poetry and animation – in order to convey a thought provoking three-minute film. For their considerable efforts, four regional winners have been selected by the judges to receive a prize of £500 for their school or college.

The North Wales winner is Yale College, Wrexham. Students from the college have entered the annual competition since its inception five years ago. The college media department submit entries of the highest quality and this year is no exception: “Where’s Nan?” shows the effects of the loss of a well-loved family member has on those left behind.

Adam Thomas, of Pembrokeshire College, has created an animation titled “Nightclub”. His winning entry for the Dyfed Powys region highlights how easily one drink can lead to another, with serious and possibly catastrophic results for all. The advice to take a bus, taxi or walk home from a night out is timely and sensible.

“Results Day” is the South Wales winning entry from Bridgend College. The film addresses the issues of young people drinking at home before they have even started their night out.   The students who produced the film rightly point out that the consequences of drinking and driving can affect your whole life, but with a little thought, serious injury and/or death can be avoided.

The winning entry for Gwent comes from Coleg Gwent, Blaenau Gwent Learning Zone, in Ebbw Vale. This is the first time that the media department has submitted an entry to the competition, but we are sure that it will not be the last. “SatNav” takes a humorous, yet serious, look at the perils of drinking and driving.

Also highly commended this year, is the entry from Coleg Menai, Llangefni, Anglesey. This film graphically illustrates the turmoil that can haunt a person who has been irresponsible enough to get behind the wheel whilst impaired by drink or drugs.

A big thank you goes out to all those who contributed to the competition and to the local authority road safety officers and other partners who promoted the competition throughout Wales. A great deal of thought and research goes into the making of these entries and the young people involved are to be applauded for their efforts and talents in creating their excellent films.

Road Safety Wales feels that the hard work and ingenuity deserves a much wider audience, so each film has been uploaded to RoSPATube in the run up to Christmas.

Teenagers interested in learning more about safety on the road, at leisure, in the home or in the workplace should visit www.facebook.com/rospayouthnetwork.

Ann Horton, RoSPA Wales’ road safety officer

Helping to deter drink driving with thought-provoking videos

All too often we hear in the news instances of lives being lost due to drink driving. Alcohol slows driver’s reactions, increases stopping distances, impairs judgement of speed and distance and affects vision. The more you drink, the more confident you become and the more likely you are to take risks – a potentially deadly mix when sitting behind the wheel.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has called for many years for the drink-drive limit to be reduced and for police to be given wider powers to conduct random breath tests. To help combat the culture of drinking and driving, RoSPA believes that a package of measures should be introduced, including: lowering the maximum blood alcohol limit from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg/100ml; evidential roadside breath testing; and wider powers for the police to breath test drivers to increase drivers’ perception of the risk of being caught without necessarily placing additional demands upon police resources, among others.

Helping to shine a light on the dangers of drinking and driving are pupils and students from across Wales, who entered the 2011 Multimedia Anti Drink Drive Competition, organised by Road Safety Wales. Groups of 11-25 year olds were invited to get together to devise, perform and record a live action multimedia presentation for RoSPA to help alert people against drink driving. The four regional winning entries made for thought-provoking viewing and took the form of an advert, news bulletin, film and music video, which earned the creators £500 for their school/college.

Yale College in Wrexham, North Wales, has entered the annual competition every year without fail since its inception four years ago. “A Lost Beauty” depicts the story of a young woman whose modelling aspirations are cut short as a consequence of drink driving.

Ysgol Maesydderwen in Ystradgynlais, Dyfed Powys, created a news bulletin titled “News for Numpties”, in which they focus on the core message that drink driving is dangerous, futile and can lead to life-changing consequences for families.

Spark Blaenymaes and Blaenymaes Primary School, in Swansea, South Wales, chose to portray the message that driving after “just one drink” can lead to tragic events. The piece reminds drivers that even a single alcoholic drink has a detrimental effect on their reaction time.

The winning entry for Gwent comes from Lewis School, Pengam, Caerphilly. Pupil and composer Richard Morgan teamed up with Amanda Leaver to produce this moving, original music video for their entry entitled “Find A Way”. The piece captures the sadness brought about by drink driving and conveys a serious message to viewers.

It is inspiring to see what can be achieved with little resources and lots of imagination, and fingers crossed these videos created by the youth of today will go some way towards stressing the importance of not drinking and driving.

Teenagers interested in learning more about safety on the road, at leisure, in the home or in the workplace should visit www.facebook.com/rospayouthnetwork?sk=wall

Michelle Harrington, road safety manager at RoSPA Wales