Pictured at the presentation, left to right, are: Neil, Charlotte, Debbie, Pete and Graham.

23 December 2009

Eleven-year-old Charlotte Anderson from High Wycombe has won this year’s firework safety competition.

It was organised by the Community Safety Partnerships in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes – the councils, police, fire and health services working together.

The competition ran from 23 September to 12 November and attracted 528 entries from 33 schools in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. Pupils aged between eight and 18 were invited to answer five questions about firework safety, and entries were also invited through Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service’s website.

Charlotte is a pupil at The Wye Valley School in Bourne End. Watch Manager Neil Bressington and Firefighters Pete Sannwald, Johnny Newton and Graham Kitchen from Green Watch, Beaconsfield, Jason Naylor from Gerrards Cross and Kate Watson, Partnership Manager for Chiltern & South Bucks, visited the school to present Charlotte with her prize, a £25 WH Smith gift voucher, a certificate and some fire service goodies.

Debbie Gatcombe, Head of Year 7 at the school, said: “This year we got as many of the pupils involved in the competition as possible, encouraging them to design a poster and complete the quiz, and eventually sent over 90 entries.

"We are so pleased that a pupil from Wye Valley School was a winner and hope for the same success next year!”