The new ‘STOP LOOK BE SEEN’ school road safety programme from Tiger Trailers’ recently-formed Tiger Safety Team unit founded by Alison Cartwright has officially launched during Road Safety Week 2021 at the manufacturer’s Cheshire factory, with 45 children and teachers from a local school, the Mayor of Winsford, Emma Elston MBE, and a road safety officer from Cheshire West & Chester Council in attendance along with Zak the Zebra from charity Brake, which Tiger has begun a donor relationship with for a minimum duration of three years.
Tiger Safety Team’s launch event for ‘STOP LOOK BE SEEN’ saw the initiative’s mascot Tiger Ted unveiled, as well as a liveried curtainsider trailer and a wrapped Volvo FH 500 6×2 Globetrotter tractor provided by Volvo Trucks UK dealer Thomas Hardie Commercials.
Alison along with Simon Long, Tiger’s driver and yard manager, and the rest of the #TigerSafetyTeam, will be delivering ‘STOP LOOK BE SEEN’ road safety lessons to Key Stage 2 children in participating schools throughout the manufacturer’s home county of Cheshire. The team’s visits are completely free and will include both classroom elements using large cut-outs to illustrate blind spots, and outside segments with Tiger Ted’s truck and trailer.
With six children seriously hurt or killed every day on British roads, the under-12s being the most at-risk, and with lorries and other large vehicles including tractors, refuse collection waggons and coaches posing a danger at up to 5 metres tall and 18 metres long, ‘STOP LOOK BE SEEN’ has been designed by Alison to cover the Green Cross Code, National Curriculum outcomes, recognising hazards around large vehicles, behaviour change techniques, and PHSE health, wellbeing & relationships topics. The road safety project’s core goal is to raise awareness surrounding safe behaviour around larger vehicles, which is especially important in the age group of 10-12 who will often be making unaccompanied journeys for the first time when they begin attending secondary school.
“Child safety and giving back to the community have both been close to my heart over the years and I am delighted that Tiger Trailers is able to play a part in keeping young people safe at a milestone time in their lives, thanks to the support we have received from Volvo Trucks UK, Brake, Thomas Hardie and other organisations, plus the enthusiastic members of #TeamTiger’s factory and office teams”, comments Tiger Safety Team’s founder, Alison Cartwright, who manages the company’s wider CSR activities and has been surrounded by trucks and semi-trailers for much of her life, being the daughter of the late and much-respected Alan Cartwright and sister to Tiger’s joint MDs Steven and John.
The children and teachers from debut school St. Joseph’s Catholic Primary in Winsford were given a safety demonstration presented by Tiger’s own driver Simon Long who taught them about HGV blind spots, noise, turning circles and other dangers, with a number of children siting in the cab of the white Volvo Globetrotter, while others received a first-hand lesson in visibility on the ground. Feedback from the children and staff in attendance was very positive with some remarking that it was one of the most educational and engaging school visits they have attended.
Road Safety Week 2021 was chosen to launch Tiger Safety Team’s ‘STOP LOOK BE SEEN’ programme as it tied in with the relationship with Brake, the theme for this year’s RSW being Road Safety Heroes. The children from St. Joseph’s drew pictures and wrote comments on who their #RoadSafetyHeroes are, and #TigerSafetyTeam (see photograph above) chose the winners – ‘a random person’ drawn and described by one of the boys, and a nurse sketched by one of the girls.
Both Volvo FH 500 6×2 push axle trucks supplied by Thomas Hardie Commercials have Globetrotter cabs and are equipped with the latest I-See topography software. The orange tractor will visit Cheshire schools pulling Tiger Safety Team’s branded curtainsider trailer that features its mascot Tiger Ted on the eye-catching livery designed to dovetail with Romac Logistics’ colours. The trailer’s curtains were provided by WJ Leech & Sons and it’s anticipated that the trailer will run on Morrisons’ fleet through Romac’s contract with the supermarket.
Alison adds: “We are excited about 2022 in which we will be visiting schools regularly to deliver our ‘STOP LOOK BE SEEN’ programme, and it will also be wonderful to see the Tiger Safety Team introduce other initiatives as time goes on, from factory safety education to projects focussed on cyclists, HGV drivers and others.”
The Tiger Safety Team has also been using opportunities to promote the haulage industry, driving and manufacturing careers to women, and is supported by HGV driver and media figure Heidi Chapman who is also part of Veterans into Logistics’ team.
Tiger Trailers employs circa 230 staff at its ultra-modern site in Cheshire where it manufactures a full range of products, from advanced moving deck double deck, temperature-controlled and box van trailers to swap-body demountables, rigid bodywork and specialist engineering projects for its diverse client base. The Alan Cartwright Foundation recognises the company’s top-performing apprentices.
