UP to 1,145 young people from across Wiltshire have been taking part in a scheme designed to turn them into good citizens.

A multi-agency team from Wiltshire Council, Wiltshire Police, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Youth Offending Team & Community Safety Partnership organised two weeks of scenarios as part of the annual Junior Good Citizen (JGC) scheme.

Taking place at the Scout Hut in Potterne, they were designed to engage young people in a fun learning environment and equip them with life skills as they make their transition from primary to secondary education.

PCSO Alan Aldersley-Byrne, who co-ordinated the scheme, said: “It was a really successful event with 40 schools from across Wiltshire taking part.

"The kids really enjoyed it and were engaged, asking the right sort of questions and hopefully having fun whilst learning how to keep themselves and those in their communities safe.

“Schemes like this are important as they help the students prepare for that transition into secondary school.

"We believe the subjects we covered with them during the scheme will help improve their understanding of how to stay safe, be responsible in our communities and who to report things to.”

The multi-agency scheme engages schools, emergency services and local authorities who work together in partnership to educate children from Year Six (aged 10 and 11) to better safeguard themselves and help others.

Students from across 40 Wiltshire schools attended the scheme over the two-week period from June 24 to July 5.

They were invited to take part in scenarios that challenged their skills and understanding, including personal safety, internet safety, hate crime and prison trailer (Wiltshire Police); road safety and envirocrime (Wiltshire Council); fire safety (DWFR); and weapons awareness (YOT &CSP).

Yasmine Ellis, from DWFRS, said: “The children have benefitted from the awareness of how much technology on charge can potentially lead to fire risks – their enthusiasm has been exemplary.”

Sebastian Williams, from Wiltshire Council, said; "It gives young people a chance to be aware of the potential risks out in the local environment and we’re happy to bestow that safety information on an annual basis.”

Tina Giles, from Wiltshire Councils Road Safety Unit, said: “With Road Safety, we want to make sure that as young people gain more independence and are travelling near busy roads, they need to be aware of the dangers – Junior Good Citizen helps spread that message to as many primary schools as possible.”