In the Community

In 1998, as part of our commitment to family safety in the Bournemouth area, where we are based, we became involved in Streetwise. A partnership initiative between the emergency services, local authorities and the business community, Streetwise aims to raise awareness of everyday safety and good citizenship issues. 

Streetwise is an interactive, real-life environment recreating scenarios from the town, country and even the beach, to illustrate safety issues. The life-size ‘village’ includes a complete two-storey house built and sponsored by LV= where children can develop a better understanding of the concept of personal safety. To date, over 30,000 children have visited the Streetwise Safety Centre.

Alison Curtis, the Centre Manager, comments: "LV= was a founding partner of Streetwise in 1996 and has continued to provide invaluable support ever since. Streetwise is about protecting children and families – causes we can see LV= is genuinely committed to."

As over a million children visit hospital casualty departments each year due to accidents in the home, the need to spread the safety message is clear.

LV= in partnership with Streetwise, has developed a "home safety game" which converts the bricks and mortar of the real LV= house into a virtual one. Endorsed by RoSPA, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, and supported by the DTI, you can play the game online and access an extensive downloadable teachers’ pack, which dovetails with the national curriculum to support learning in schools.