Winner of the Fire Kills Art Competition announced.
After weeks of frenzied colouring and designing by children up and down the country, the winning design for a new fire safety hero has been chosen.
The winning design was submitted by Kasia Gluc from Blackburn, with three runners-up being specially commended: Zenab Kauser from Sheffield, Charlotte Newis from Sutton Coldfield and Clementine Matiwaza from Southend on Sea.
Supported by LEGOLAND Windsor, the Fire Kills art competition was launched by Communities and Local Government as a way of engaging children from different ethnic communities to learn about fire safety in the home. People without a working smoke alarm are more than twice as likely to die from a fire and research shows that that the Polish, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Somali heritage communities are at particular risk.
Children across the country were challenged to come up with a new Fire Safety Hero that could be used to warn against the dangers of fire. Over two hundred entries were received and presented to the judging panel which comprised of; Sagal Jama, Somali community advocate for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, Roland Chojnaki, director of the Polish Cultural Institute and Mohammed Ali, a Southbank award-winning artist of Bangladeshi origin.
Kasia was presented with the special prize of a family trip to LEGOLAND, and a certificate as a reminder of her creative success, during a visit to Blackburn fire station in Lancashire on Monday 8th March 2010. The runners-up have each won a certificate and a set from the LEGO UK Fire range.
Kasia Gluc from Blackburn said: “I am so happy – I entered the competition because it’s important to learn about fire safety. I’m excited to see my design as the new Fire safety Hero and I can’t wait to go to LEGOLAND!â€
The winning design will debut alongside the existing Fire Kills mascot, Frances the Firefly, who is used to warn children about the dangers of fire.
Congratulating the winner, Fire Minister Shahid Malik said: “I would like to offer my congratulations to the overall winner of the competition and the runners-up. There were a lot of excellent entries for this competition, and it was impressive to see the huge array of creative and original designs. It is brilliant to see children using their creativity whilst learning the important messages of fire safety in the home.â€
Copies of ‘Frances the Firefly’ in community specific languages are available by contacting 020 8902 5575 or artcompetition@mediamoguls.com
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Media Enquiries:
For further information and to organise interviews please contact:
Nacima Begum or Leila Sukkar on 0208 902 5575 or nacima@mediamoguls.com / leilas@mediamoguls.com
Communities and Local Government Press Office Tel. 030 3444 1138 or email press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk
Notes to editors:
- The Fire Kills campaign is run by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The Fire Kills campaign is the national fire safety campaign run by the Department for Communities and Local Government. It aims to support the programme of work delivered locally by fire and rescue services. It aims to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by accidental dwelling fires by actively encouraging people to change their behaviour and attitudes towards fire safety.
- More information and tips on how to safeguard against fire risks and hazards can be found at www.direct.gov.uk/firekills
- Competition details:
- The competition was open to children from the ages of 3 years to 10 years.
The prizes are:
Overall winner – Family ticket (two adult, two children) to LEGOLAND Windsor
Three runners-up – Set from the Lego UK Fire range
- The competition opened on the 14th October 2009, with submissions closing on the 29th January 2010.
4. The ‘Frances the Firefly’ story has been produced in the Somali, Polish, Sylheti (Bangladeshi) and Urdu (Pakistani) languages.
5. LEGOLAND Windsor is a unique family theme park where children aged 3-12 can take to the road, soar through the skies and sail the seas in complete safety. It has over 55 interactive rides, attractions, live shows, building workshops and driving schools, not to mention nearly 55 million LEGO bricks, all set in 150 acres of beautiful parkland. For further information, please visit www.LEGOLAND.co.uk
