Volunteers Officer

Child safety workshops return to Broxbourne… with a bang! It’s been a while, but the last couple of weeks have seen over 900 Year 6 children (10–11-year-olds) from 22 local primary schools across the borough, once again take part in a series of interactive safety workshops, under the ‘Crucial Crew’ banner. This ‘Crucial Crew’ (CC) scheme aimed to teach children about important issues that are often overlooked by the curriculum, such as personal safety, Internet safety, staying safe online, water safety, park safety, safety on the railways and the dangers/consequences of criminal damage, promoting health and wellbeing, ensuring children are more informed about vaping/e-cigarettes and their potential harm (short/ long-term effects), and first aid (learning how to save a life; DRABC; basic life support - CPR; recovery position). The event, held this year at Cheshunt Football Club, courtesy of Chairman, Dean Williamson, included sessions from the following participating agencies; - @HertfordshireC4 (local Safer Neighbourhood Team), @LeeValleyPark , @BTP, @HCT_SchoolNurse (part of the Hertfordshire Family Centre service) and @EastEnglandAmb. The workshops gave pupils the unique opportunity to learn valuable skills from the professionals, through practical demonstrations and discussions in real-life situations. The event would not have happened without funding from key sponsor, @BroxbourneBC, and the kind support of @cheshuntfcscore who provided the venue for free – special thanks going to General Manager, Ria Hicks, and her team who made all the CC team really welcome and went out of their way to ensure that the event ran smoothly. A VIP Day was held on Monday, 20th October 2025, and was attended by special guests that included Deputy Lieutenant for Hertfordshire - Karen Trew, Mayor of Broxbourne - Cllr Patsy Spears, Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety - Cllr Jim Clune, Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Eastern Region Neighbourhood and Response Superintendent - Chris Hay and Broxbourne & East Herts Chief Inspector - Chief Inspector Pat McPeake, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority’s Head of Active Communities - Paul Coates, School Nursing Service’s Operational Manger - Rosie Franklin-Smith and Team Leader for the Broxbourne area - Jo Kerr, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust’s Head of Public Health Nursing - Asha Dabeed, and Cheshunt Football Club owner - Lee Williamson. Schools in attendance were @GoffsOakPrimary and Burleigh Primary School. Here are some pictures from the VIP Day…