A CAMPAIGNING police community support officer is helping to keep local children safe around their schools with a new banner scheme.
PCSO Wayne Turley is the brainchild behind the bright 8ft banners now fastened to school fences warning parents to ‘Think before you park. You could endanger a child’s life’.
Nine banners have been made – three per Saddleworth ward – with the help of sponsors including GMP, Greenfield and Grasscroft Residents Association, and Oldham Council.
PCSO Turley explained: “I saw a banner like this at one of the schools in Tameside and thought it was great.
“Having a banner there might only make one person think twice about stopping on the zig zags but that might save a child’s life.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the response and the amount of people who have got behind the idea.”
The first banner was unveiled at St Anne’s Primary School in Lydgate and they will be moved between schools in each ward every few weeks.
PCSO Turley added: “If the banners are in one place all the time, they become part of the fixtures and fittings and people stop paying attention so it’s a good idea to rotate them.
“I chose to start at St Anne’s as we have been having real problems there recently with parents stopping on yellow lines.
“I’d like to thank the printers Media Mill Ltd in Delph who did us a really good deal on the banners so we could get this scheme in place.”
PCSO Turley is also behind the police’s ‘Darker Nights’ competition run with local primary schools to create posters to help residents deter burglars from their homes in winter.
Great proactive policing in this area is really helping with local issues and getting the children on board with initiatives can only be good for the future of supportive communities.