Image for The Birthday Party story
The Birthday Party

Thousands of storybooks that help to teach youngsters how to stay safe at home are being made available free of charge to childcare professionals across Scotland.

The Birthday Party, a free book which has been produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), can be given to any professional that works with children who are in Primary 3 or younger from Monday 8th June

The storybook, part of the Go Safe Scotland initiative to educate children on safety, has been made possible thanks to donations, the largest portion of which was collected at the recent RoSPA’s Occupational Safety Awards dinner.

The importance of teaching home safety to children has been highlighted by NHS Scotland statistics released earlier this year, which show 2,128 injuries to children under five happened in the home. The biggest causes were falls (891) and poisoning (514), which are both issues covered in the book, along with the potential dangers of looped blind cords.

The Birthday Party, written by award-winning children’s author Linda Strachan, follows Jamie and his friends as they prepare safely for a birthday party, including making and decorating cakes, putting on costumes and tidying up after themselves.

Elizabeth Lumsden, RoSPA Scotland’s community safety manager, also raised funds for the project when she, along with son Donald, walked 50 miles of the West Highland Way in April last year.

She said: “The majority of accidents occur in the home, with a high proportion of those happening to young children, so this is a really worthwhile project.

“We would love to see these books being used across the country, as they really help children to understand the message of being safe in the home, and empower them with the knowhow to be able to do so.”

The first story will be followed up by a series of ebooks to explore other areas where children have accidents, the majority of which can be avoided with small changes in everyday behaviour.

George Cairns, chairman of the Go Safe Scotland partnership, said: “We’d like to thank RoSPA for its continued support and in particular for its efforts in producing The Birthday Party.

“The publication of the book adds another dimension to the home safety section of our campaign, highlights important key safety messages for both parent and child, and of course it is a great and entertaining story.”

Anyone wishing to get copies of the book should contact Christie Burnett on cburnett@rospa.com, or call 0131 449 9379, to arrange collection from the RoSPA Scotland office in Edinburgh.

In other news...

Image for Keeping You Safe and Warm Durin the Covid-19 Pandemic story

Keeping You Safe and Warm Durin the Covid-19 Pandemic

As we find ourselves in another national lockdown, and while things are far from normal, we hope you’re continuing to stay safe and well at home.
Image for Playing It Safe: Knife crime prevention resource for primary schools story

Playing It Safe: Knife crime prevention resource for primary schools

No Knives, Better Lives (NKBL) programme has launched a new resource for practitioners working with children aged 6+ to prevent knife carrying.
Image for Fearless Hate Crime story

Fearless Hate Crime

Fearless.org urges young people to speak up about hate crime
Generic SubHeadline Image

Stay Safe Around Watercourses This Summer

Scottish Water is urging people to stay safe and not take risks around rivers, reservoirs and lochs this summer.

Archive News

05/11/2018 - Fireworks Misuse

Fearless.org urges young people to speak up about fireworks misuse and deliberate fire-raising

09/03/2018 - The page title would be: CO Safety Competition 2018

Can you help us raise awareness of the dangerous gas carbon monoxide?

08/02/2016 - Preventing Home Accidents

Children’s book being given out in A&E to prevent home accidents

19/01/2016 - Blind Cords

RoSPA welcomes IKEA’s blind-cord promise to save children’s lives

16/11/2015 - School Bus Signage

This study evaluated Glasgow City Council’s enhanced school bus signage pilot.

19/10/2015 - Hilltop Nusery School

The children at Hilltop Nursery have been looking at Road Safety.

14/09/2015 - Nappy Sack Dangers

RoSPA warns parents of nappy sack dangers

30/06/2015 - Fire Hydrants

Warning about fire hydrants vandalism

29/06/2015 - Summer Water Safety

Stay safe around watercourses this summer

09/12/2014 - None For The Road

New laws changing the drink drive limit.

08/12/2014 - Memorial Gardens

Community Safety Glasgow has been working in partnership with Dalmarnock Primary and Sacred Heart Primary

05/12/2014 - Play Safe this Winter

Scottish Water is calling on people to play safe around watercourses this winter

17/10/2014 - Bonfire & Fireworks

A safety pack to raise awareness of dangers associated with fireworks and bonfires.

18/06/2014 - Summer Water Safety 2014

PLAY IT SAFE AROUND RIVERS, RESERVOIRS AND LOCHS THIS SUMMER

11/06/2014 - Digital Safety Launch

Pupils at Sinclairtown Primary School launched a new online safety resource for schools across Scotland

24/03/2014 - Child Safety Scotland

Spotlight on young children as first-ever Family Safety Week begins

28/11/2013 - Play Safe this Winter

Scottish Water is reminding customers of the importance of playing safe this winter.

26/09/2013 - JRSOs - Wellshot Primary

Two Glasgow school pupils are creating a real song and dance when it comes to promoting road safety.

24/09/2013 - Basement Blaze

Rapid response sees firefighters in breathing apparatus tackle basement blaze.

24/09/2013 - Man trapped in collision

Emergency services work closely to free man trapped after collision near Oban.

20/09/2013 - Faulty Electric Blanket

SFRS works in partnership to prevent fires caused by electric blankets

17/09/2013 - Dangers of Liquitabs

Parents urged to store liquitabs out of reach of children

01/09/2013 - Welcome

Welcome to Go Safe Scotland, a new interactive resource for delivering safety education to Scottish children.

26/08/2013 - Rescue in Paisley

Injured man plucked to safety from the White Cart Water after fall from bridge.

26/08/2013 - SFRS warning

SFRS crews have this weekend responded to a spate of rubbish fires across the Edinburgh area.

26/08/2013 - Water safety message

Scottish Water is reminding people to play it safe in or near rivers, reservoirs and lochs.

22/08/2013 - Smoke free homes pledge

Fife householders are making the smoke free homes pledge

22/08/2013 - Electrical fire

Crews from Crewe Toll fire station called to electrical fire at The Green.

22/08/2013 - Crews tackle fires

Crews tackled separate fires in Kilmarnock and Troon

05/08/2013 - North Lanarkshire Fire

Man suffers smoke inhalation in North Lanarkshire fire.

05/08/2013 - Man burned in fire

Firefighters extinguish flames in a flat at a Knightswood tower block.
Show more archived stories

Please select your region from the list below:

Please enter your username and password and press the "log in" button


*

*