Crucial Crew, a long-running national safety education programme, is returning to Ipswich from Monday 1 June to Friday 12 June, to help equip young people with the skills they need to stay safe.
Delivered by Ipswich Borough Council’s Community Participation team, the initiative will be welcoming approximately 1,300 Year Six pupils (aged 10–11) from schools across the town.
The two-week event provides a fun and interactive learning environment where children take part in realistic scenarios designed to build confidence and awareness around personal safety.
Crucial Crew aims to help children:
- Become more aware of their personal safety.
- Learn how to respond to dangerous or challenging situations.
- Understand the role of the emergency services and how and when to contact them.
- Recognise the importance of their actions in keeping themselves and others safe.
Each pupil rotates through a series of sessions led by experienced professionals, covering important issues such as:
- Fire safety.
- Healthy relationships.
- Drugs and alcohol misuse.
- Online safety, hate crime and anti-social behaviour.
- Gang exploitation and county lines.
The sessions are delivered by partner organisations including Suffolk Police, Suffolk Fire and Rescue, Turning Point, Lighthouse Women’s Aid and Criminal Exploitation Hubs, with additional support from volunteers including the Rotary Club of Ipswich Wolsey.
Since it began in Ipswich more than 30 years ago, more than 45,000 children have taken part in Crucial Crew, with schools continuing to provide highly positive feedback each year.
Councillor George Lankester, Portfolio Holder for Communities said:
“"I attended Crucial Crew myself as a child, so it’s fantastic to see the programme continuing to develop and make such a positive impact on young people in Ipswich. Crucial Crew is an important part of how we support them to stay safe and make informed choices.
"By bringing together our partners to deliver these engaging, real-life scenarios, we’re helping children build the confidence and awareness they need as they move on to secondary school.
“The continued positive feedback from schools shows just how valuable this programme is to our community.”
The Mayor of Ipswich, Councillor Pat Bruce Browne, will visit Crucial Crew on Thursday 11 June, joining pupils as they take part in a series of interactive workshops.