Crucial Crew - 2019

A Report on Sudbury Crucial Crew - 2019

Sudbury Rotary Club’s twentieth Crucial Crew, held during March, saw a record number of local youngsters take part. In all, 753 9/10-year old children from 28 schools gained invaluable safety experiences, bringing the total number to around 13,000 since the club introduced Crucial Crew twenty years ago. Unlike other Crucial Crews in Suffolk, which are organised by the various District Councils, Sudbury Crucial Crew is funded, organised and run totally by Sudbury Rotary Club. 

Comments from some of the teachers who brought youngsters along included :-

• Crucial Crew provides the children with a unique opportunity to grow and learn.
• a vital resource to help equip our young people to take a responsible role within our society.
• an invaluable opportunity for pupils to experience dangerous situations in a safe way.
• Crucial Crew provides a vital service to our young people, who learn essential life skills in a safe environment. The equipment and facilities give a realistic impression of safety scenarios to the children that could not be done in school.

Schools come along to either a morning or afternoon session during Crucial Crew week. Their pupils are divided into ten groups of 8 or 9 children, and they are guided around a circus of ten different 15-minute scenarios by Rotarians, partners and friends.

Each year, we note the feedback from the participating schools and, as a result, changes were made to three of our usual scenarios. A group of Year-10 Drama students from Thomas Gainsborough School in Sudbury again produced one of the most impressive scenarios, which dealt with bullying. The focus this year was on bullying through social networks and the short play performed by the actors highlighted the problem brilliantly, with all who saw it commenting on the excellence of the acting and the message that was delivered. 

A second group of drama pupils worked alongside a contingent of police officers to try and befriend the youngsters, which gave the police officers the opportunity talk about friendships and the dangers of possible ‘grooming’, which will be developed further with the police visiting schools in the coming weeks to discuss the growing problem associated with “county lines”.

Looking at how to stay safe in the sun was again a popular activity, with expert advice given by Sarah from the charity “Cancer Care in Suffolk”. We were amazed that Sarah’s enthusiasm and ability to respond to each of the groups of youngsters was maintained throughout the week - even when the 90th and final group arrived at her scenario on the Friday afternoon.

Once again, some of our local Police Officers and PCSO’s dealt with staying safe on the internet and transformed the club’s gazebo into a child’s bedroom, with posters, soft toys and even a bed to highlight the dangers associated with making friends through social media websites. It was very rewarding to see the concentration on children’s faces as they cuddled the toys and watched the CEOP video. 

Our ‘Water Safety’ scenario was also popular with the children, with members of Ipswich Lifesaving Club providing a completely inter-active experience, where the children learnt how to rescue each other from an imaginary lake with the use of a piece of wood, a jumper, a cricket bat and lengths of rope. 

We were pleased this year to be able to broaden Crucial Crew to look at environmental issues with a scenario developed and delivered by the town’s Community Wardens, which looked at the over-use and dangers of plastics and how they can be recycled.

The usual mix of regular scenarios completed the programme, with Suffolk Fire Service once again using their new and ever popular mock-up of a child’s bedroom to great effect to point out areas of potentially high fire risk, before simulating a fire with theatrical smoke and rescue by a fireman wearing full breathing apparatus. There was an opportunity to make a ‘999-call’ to our own emergency operators and youngsters were also taught some first aid and how to move someone to the ‘recovery position’, as well as being given advice on staying safe on the road. 

So that the lessons learnt are reinforced, each pupil has access to material that supports continued learning at home and in the classroom via the Sudbury Crucial Crew website, which also provides key information for teachers prior to their visit.

To be successful, the project requires a terrific additional commitment from Rotarians, friends and anyone who can be encouraged to come along and help. In all, around 75 people helped with at least one session, including a number of Rotarians from other local Clubs, many of whom enjoy the experience so much that they return year after year. Our thanks go to all those who helped so willingly and in so many ways.

The whole event is organised, funded and run by Sudbury Rotary Club and thanks are due to our sponsors, who this year included :

• Sudbury Town Council
• Hadleigh Town Council
• Ann Beaumont's Educational Foundation
• Sudbury Waitrose Charity Token Scheme
• Suffolk County Council Locality Grants donated by two local Councillors

And finally, our thanks to the following for their active support : 

• Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service 
• Suffolk Constabulary 
• Gryphon First Aid 
• Cancer Care in Suffolk 
• Ipswich Lifesaving Club
• Suffolk RoadSafe Partnership 
• Sudbury Community Wardens 
• Drama pupils from Year 10 of Thomas Gainsborough School
• AFC Sudbury