£18 million to help keep children ‘Safe at Home’

ENGLAND – Families across England will be given advice and access to vital safety equipment, such as safety gates and fireguards, to help protect their children from accidents at home children’s minister Delyth Morgan has announced.

£18 million (NZ$54 million) has been awarded to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) to run ‘Safe at Home’, a National Home Safety Equipment Scheme, until March 2011.

Safe At Home will be delivered through local schemes run by partners such as Sure Start Children’s Centres, local authorities and Primary Care Trusts.

RoSPA-trained staff will make home visits to assess individual family needs, and will then tailor-make a package of equipment and practical home safety advice.

The government set aside the money in response to the Staying Safe consultation, when parents said that they were unable to afford basic equipment to protect their children from household dangers.

In total, 141 areas are eligible to benefit from the scheme, which will be targeted to help the most disadvantaged families living in areas with the highest accident rates.

Ms Morgan said: “We know that accidents in the home are the biggest cause of injury to children under five, and that over one million children of all ages visit hospital every year because of an accident at home.

“These statistics are worrying, which is why we are targeting £18m (NZ$54 million) of support to the 141 areas where we can make the most difference.

“Some accidents are difficult to prevent by home safety equipment such as scalds from hot beverages, so the national scheme will give parents practical advice about these types of accidents and what they can do to prevent them as well. I look forward to working closely with RoSPA as the scheme begins to make a real difference to families in need.”

Errol Taylor, RoSPA deputy chief executive, said: “Clear links between deprivation and childhood accidents have been identified and that is why Safe at Home will help disadvantaged families access safety equipment which they may not always be able to afford.

“Such equipment, along with access to good information about home accidents and how to prevent them, has the very real potential to save children’s lives and reduce the number and severity of injuries they suffer.

“RoSPA is privileged to be administering a scheme which links directly to its mission, and is thrilled by the enthusiasm for the initiative already shown by children’s workers up and down the country.”

In the Children’s Plan the government pledged to spend £18m (NZ$54 million) over the next three years to provide home safety equipment to parents who need the most help.

With children from disadvantaged areas statistically far more likely to have an accident, the aim of Safe at Home is to help parents take the right steps and prevent the risk becoming a reality.

There is evidence that providing free home safety equipment is an effective way of reducing accidents and it is hoped that this scheme will reduce the number of children being injured or even killed in preventable accidents in the home.

As well as the distribution and loaning of equipment, RoSPA’s role will include a detailed education programme that will work with parents in areas with the highest accident rates to help limit the risk of unavoidable accidents in the home.