RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
January 28, 2005
ACTING TO STOP FALLS AMONG NORTHERN IRELAND’S CHILDREN
A new drama hits the road on Monday (Jan 31) aimed at reducing the number of falls that send thousands of Northern Ireland children to hospital each year.
The play We All Fall Down – a partnership between the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and theatre company Replay Productions - will be seen by at least 3,000 children in the province in the next six weeks.
Each year in Northern Ireland around 5,000 children attend hospital after a fall at home and nearly 700 have to be admitted. Thousands more will be treated by GPs or are given first-aid.
The production will target one of the high-risk groups – three-to-six year-olds. But it is hoped the messages will also help the parents and teachers who will be with them.
More than 110 performances will be given to play groups, mother and toddler groups and primary schools from Monday until March 18.
Janice Bisp, RoSPA Home Safety Manager for Northern Ireland, said: “The play aims to raise awareness, improve knowledge and change behaviour. It’s a fun-filled half-hour set in a living room and looking at the life of a pregnant mother with three young children and a baby.
“It deals with some of the most common causes of falls, including unguarded stairs and windows, highchairs, bouncy chairs left high up, poor awareness and lack of supervision. We hope it will be as successful as previous plays in preventing accidents.”
Two years ago RoSPA and Replay combined to produce a play about accidental poisonings among children. Research among audiences showed it achieved a 67 per cent improvement in understanding how to prevent poisonings and 20 per cent of the audience changed the way they stored poisons.
Funding has come from Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and the Department of Education.
The first performances will be at: Ballymagee Primary, Bangor, on Monday; Elmgrove Primary, Belfast, on Tuesday; Harmony Hill Primary, Lisburn, on Wednesday and Thursday; and Down Arts Centre, Downpatrick, on Friday.
For details of other performances, contact Janice Bisp on 02890 501160.
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RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
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