More than 850 young people from across Arun and Chichester will take part in a major community safety event at Goodwood Racecourse next month.
The Arun and Chichester Junior Citizen programme will see Year 6 pupils from 29 primary schools learning vital life skills.
Emergency services will deliver interactive sessions over two weeks in April.
Topics include first aid and CPR, fire safety, stranger awareness, online safety and mental health.
The ‘Junior Citizen’ event, coordinated by Child Safety Media, is being led locally by Anton Mezzone, West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service’s Station Manager for Chichester Fire Station and is jointly funded by Chichester District Council and Arun District Council following growing concerns around youth behaviour in the area.
Station Manager Anton Mezzone said: “Through my teams and our partner organisations, we have seen a sharp increase in antisocial behaviour, rooftop running, trespass, and fire-setting in derelict properties – all of which carry significant risk.
“Engaging children at this key transition point in their lives, through education, positive role modelling, and real-world learning, gives us the best opportunity to reduce these incidents in the future and help young people make safer, more informed choices.
“My involvement in Junior Citizens is deeply personal. I grew up in a single-parent household with very little, and as a young person I carried a lot of anger and uncertainty about where I fit in. What changed my path were two teachers who stepped in, believed in me, and helped me turn that anger into something positive.
“Later, joining West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service gave me direction and purpose. I never forgot how much early influences matter – the school visits, the emergency service role models, the people who showed me what was possible.
“Junior Citizens is about being that influence for today’s children. If we can reach young people at the age when they are forming their choices, and give them knowledge, confidence, and positive examples, we can genuinely change life outcomes. This programme is prevention in its truest sense, and is something I wholeheartedly believe in.”
The Arun & Chichester Junior Citizen event is being facilitated by Child Safety Media in partnership with West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Chichester District Council, Arun District Council, West Sussex County Council, Chichester City Council, South East Coast Ambulance Service, Sussex Police, Southern Rail, Network Rail and Goodwood Racecourse.
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