Jimmy Rawlings, aged five, from Fife and China Wright, aged eight, from London, have won the regional prizes for our annual school carbon monoxide (CO) safety competition.
Organised by the UK’s four gas distribution networks and supported by the Energy Networks Association, the competition calls for creative young people aged five to 11 to help raise awareness of CO poisoning.
We received some fantastic entries in this year’s competition from school children, Beavers, and Cubs across our Scottish and southern England network area. Entries ranged from videos, presentations, posters, cartoons and poems, all designed to warn of the dangers of the silent killer.
China, who attends St Joseph's RC Junior School in London, created a powerful and informative poem highlighting the dangers and symptoms of CO poisoning, to win the regional award for students aged eight to eleven.
China with her certificate
Being a regional winner, she won £150 for herself and £300 for her school.
China's winning poem
Jimmy trumped the rest of the competition across the UK to win both our regional and the national award for students aged five to seven. He created a presentation for his classmates at Culross Primary School in Fife, to teach them all about the dangers of the ‘silent killer’ and how to keep themselves and their families safe at home.
Jimmy Rawlings
As Jimmy won both the UK and national prize, he was awarded £450 to enjoy himself and £900 for Culross Primary School. When receiving his prize, Jimmy’s Deputy Head Teacher, Rhianna Tweedie, told us: “Jimmy winning the competition has helped spread awareness around the dangers of CO and how to ensure CO safety across the school community.
“He shared his winning presentation at our whole school assembly, providing information around what CO is, how it effects the body and most importantly how to ensure we all stay safe! This was then shared with the wider school community on our home learning app Seesaw to further spread Jimmy's advice. Families have provided super feedback on how this then guided and promoted further discussion at home.
“Team Culross would like to say a massive thank you to Jimmy for teaching us all about CO safety."
Jimmy's winning presentation
Our Social Impact Project Lead Dan Edwards said: “Along with the other gas network companies, we were impressed by creative entries that were submitted to this year’s competition and we hope that the process involved has helped the students, their households, schools and organisations, to recognise the potential dangers of CO.
“CO has no smell, taste or colour and lives are lost every year because of CO poisoning. It’s through awareness initiatives like this competition that safety messages such as getting gas appliances safety checked every year by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the need for an audible CO alarm can reach more people across the UK and save lives.”
To be in with a chance of winning next year’s competition, click here for all the information you need
