Focusing on safety and uplifting the wellbeing of future generations has always been a lead community engagement initiative of Fairfirst. As an organisation that strongly believes in the value of social responsibility, Fairfirst continued with its Road Safety Awareness initiative with the recently held programme for five schools, which took place at Mahanama College in Colombo 03.
Engaging with the community in a sensible manner, especially in terms of instilling community-level safety, is carried out via a prolific programme on Road Safety Awareness which was born and kicked off back in 2012 and continues to date. Their relentless efforts have diligently supported this cause with the hope that future generations would reap the benefits of safer roads and eventually a safer nation.
Together with the Sri Lanka Traffic Police, hands-on training sessions were carried out at Mahanama College where five schools – namely, St. Mary’s Balika Vidyalaya, St. Anthony’s Balika Vidyalaya, D.S. Senanayaka College, St. Michael’s College, and Mahanama College – engaged in live demonstrations where over 500 kids were educated on ways to regulate traffic near schools. The programme also included sessions that explained the possible dangers faced by both pedestrians and drivers due to negligence of traffic rules and etiquette. These Road Safety Awareness programmes are an ongoing series of educational drives that will be seen conducted throughout the year to help curb negligent road behaviour and build a safer nation.
Concurrently, a tailor-made training programme for traffic wardens of schools was also conducted to encourage and groom those interested to take on the role. To appraise the efforts and as a monitoring mechanism, 60 participating students were issued a certificate by Sri Lanka Traffic Police, where they were endorsed as Certified Traffic Wardens.
Supun Kotuwegoda, Senior Manager – Marketing and Digital Solutions, stated: “The future lies in the hands of the little ones and what we aim to accomplish through these programmes is to constantly safeguard our country’s future generations in a sensible manner. And to make this a possibility, we are proud to be working closely with the Sri Lanka Traffic Police from the very inception of this much-needed cause.”
“When a business does good, it can be a positive ripple for the community. Our hope is that when these children themselves become the vehicle owners/drivers of tomorrow, they will change this risky driving culture to one that’s a lot safer. It may be a long shot, but together with these bright young children, we are able to take a step closer to making roads safe,” stated Sasith Bambaradeniya, Chief Marketing Officer.
What was first carried out in Colombo is now facilitated in 22 of 25 districts all over Sri Lanka, where Fairfirst has reached over 170,000 school kids in more than 2,400 schools whilst empowering and grooming more than 37,000 traffic wardens.
Fairfirst is a leading insurance company that is part of the Canadian-based Fairfax Group. Apart from serving individuals, businesses, and institutions across this beautiful island, the company has a keen focus and commitment to the community. Fairfirst believes that business is a force to do good. With good business comes good profits, and with good profits the chance to give back to the community is twice-fold.