New community safety vehicle decorated by local school children unveiled in Wirral

Children from a primary school in Woodchurch have designed the artwork that now appears on a new vehicle that will be deployed in anti-social behaviour hotspots in Wirral to promote community safety.

The children from Woodchurch C of E Primary School took part in a competition to design the livery on the new Community Reassurance (CCTV) vehicle, which was officially unveiled for the first time during a launch event in Birkenhead last week.

The Community Reassurance (CCTV) vehicle is a Peugeot Boxer van carrying mobile CCTV facilities that will relay footage to the Council’s Emergency Control Centre.

It has been provided wholly thanks to external funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) awarded by central government and administered locally by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA).

Alongside the launch of the van, two new hybrid cars for use by the team were also unveiled. These are to replace their current, less fuel-efficient vehicles.

The vehicles will be deployed to assist in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, to support events and the response to serious or critical incidents; primarily, they will be deployed in hotspot areas to provide community reassurance.

The competition winners and runners-up were joined by Wirral’s Deputy Mayor, Cllr Brian Kenny and representatives from LCRCA and Merseyside Police at the launch at Birkenhead Town Hall on Friday 13th December. The choir from St Peter’s Primary School in Noctorum warmed up the guests prior to the presentations by singing a selection of Christmas songs.

The winner of the competition was Mia Halliday and the runners-up were Abigail McLachlan and Sebastiaan Thompson. All three were Year 6 pupils at Woodchurch C of E Primary School at the time of the competition but are now at secondary schools, Woodchurch High and Wirral Grammar School for Girls, who both gave permission for the young people to attend the launch. They were accompanied by their former teacher at Woodchurch Primary, Katherine Britton, who co-ordinated the competition.

It was the first time the winning artists have seen their work – carrying the theme ‘Keeping our Community Safe’ – covering both sides of the CCTV van.

Cllr Ann Ainsworth, Deputy Chair of the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee for Wirral Council, said:

“The acquisition of these vehicles will support the work of Community Safety partners in Wirral by providing a visible and reassuring presence on the streets, particularly at times of heightened tension or unease within a community. It will also play a part in helping to deliver on a number of elements of Wirral’s Community Safety Strategy 2021-26.

“The livery designed by local children is a reminder to everyone of why it is important that people should be able to feel safe within their community, particularly when they are growing up.”

The new vehicles have been provided through funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) administered locally through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The project closely aligns with one of the aims of UKSPF which is to ‘restore a sense of community, local pride and belonging, especially in those places where they have been lost’.

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