City’s ‘Y’ factor returns for the third year
Birmingham’s exclusive road safety song competition has returned for the third year building on the success of the last two years. ‘Y Factor’ is more popular than ever having received thousands of votes since voting opened last week.
Three finalists have been now been chosen from entries received from Birmingham’s 300 primary schools where pupils aged 5-11 years old, were asked to create a song for their peers aimed at increasing understanding of road safety issues.
The three finalists, chosen by members of Birmingham Road Safety Partnership are:
1. Moorhall Primary School in Sutton Coldfield;
2. St. Theresa’s Catholic Primary School in Handsworth Wood; and
3. Whittington Primary School in Lichfield.
This year has seen a real mix of schools interested in the competition, even gaining interest from schools outside of the city. We are now looking for a winner. Voting in the competition is free and you can vote as many times as you like for your favourite song, on-line at www.yfactor.org.uk. Voting started on 11th November and closes on 9th December 2011. The winning school will have the opportunity to record the chosen song which will then be played on local radio.
The competition is about making sure that everybody, young and old, gets the road safety message. The previous two road safety competitions were run over the summer months and reduced road traffic accidents in those years. This year we’re targeting winter months to see if we can impact on road traffic incidents caused during darker nights.
The competition was awarded the prestigious ‘Prince Michael International Road Safety Award’ last year. The Royal Awards recognise achievements in road safety and are presented annually, to the most outstanding examples of innovation across the world.
Cllr Ayoub Khan, Cabinet Member for Local Services and Community Safety comments: “I’m extremely proud to support Y-Factor. The competition has been successful as it’s children telling children to take care when crossing the road in a fun and informative way.”
CFO Vij Randeniya said “This initiative is a fantastic way of educating young people whilst they are having fun, and I’m sure that the success of this competition will continue to grow.”
Notes to Editors
1. Please contact Natasha Bhandal, Public Reassurance & Communications Manager on 0121 303 8727 or Trudi Maybury on 0121 464 6210 or 07827 896594.
2. Birmingham Community Safety Partnership is a joint partnership between Birmingham City Council, West Midlands Police, West Midlands Fire Service and other agencies that work together to tackle crime and anti-social behavior that affects our communities.
