The Mix hosted over 1,000 10 and 11 year old students from 42 local primary schools across Suffolk for the annual Crucial Crew event on personal health and safety.
The event took place between 19-27 June where local emergency services from Suffolk Fire and Rescue, Suffolk Police, Schools Nurses, Turning Point, Army Welfare, and The Mix’s own youth work team, delivered interactive workshops for the year 6 students on everything from the importance of bees to healthy friendships to how to be mindful of your sugar intake.
Crucial Crew has been hosted by The Mix for six years and is for those transitioning from primary school to high school to learn about different aspects of personal health and safety.
The team from Army Welfare delivered the safe sugar sessions looking at the well-being of our bodies and how to look after it. Delving into what our diets include, what happens to our body when it has too much sugar and give ideas on how to keep to a healthy level of sugar.
School nurses delivered sessions on well-being and mindfulness; ways to look after yourself particularly when worries creep into our minds. Well-being and mindfulness can be used during the transition to high school, to equip young people on how to look after their mind and who to ask for help.
The Mix youth workers were on hand to help navigate the world of friendships and relationships; helping to understand what that might look like and what to do if there is a problem.
Suffolk Police presented a talk about being safe online and how to be sensible when playing online games. The Police love a song and dance, so the sessions were often quite musical!
Real life fire fighters from Suffolk Fire and Rescue brought their pod along to give young people some real life situations to learn how to spot the danger and to call for help.
The team from Turning Point explored the dangers and risk of drugs and alcohol on the body. This session was aimed at informing and helping young people become aware of the impact drugs and alcohol could have on them and those around them.
The Environment and I session was delivered by The Mix youth workers, looking at ways we can keep our environment safe and good things we can do for the spaces around us. Looking at saving the bees and what we can do for the bees at home.
Sophie Tapscott, lead school’s youth worker and crucial crew coordinator, said; “Crucial Crew 2023 was a huge success. The young people were so engaged with each session.
“Over the seven days we delivered over 30 hours of youth work and 686 sessions to local primary schools. Over 1,000 young people were able to learn about personal health and safety in a new and engaging environment with real local emergency services who spoke so passionately that made it fun.”
A quote from one of the teachers that attended with their students, “Every year this is such an important event for our year 6s and a great way to help them think about extra aspects of growing up and preparing for high school”.
