THE emergency services have befriend a bright spark to help give safety advice to children.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service would like to introduce residents to their new friend, the little red dragon Sbarc.

Sbarc - the Welsh translation of 'spark' - will help spread messages to young children on the dangers of playing with fire and how to keep safe in your home and in your community.

Paul Scott, senior fire safety manager, said: “Sbarc will be featuring across our education and marketing material and will be seen at various events and campaigns providing safety advice. We hope that Sbarc will help children and their parents by helping us promote the Fireworks Code, Home Safety, Road Safety, Water Safety and much more.”

In the Summer of 2019, the three Welsh Fire and Rescue Services came together and designed a character that would the help spread the Fire and Rescue services’ Community Safety messages. Their aim was to develop a character that would capture the imagination and to educate children and members of the public on key messages of Prevention, Detection and Escape and Arson Reduction.

Naming of the character was conducted through public consultation at various public events in 2019, where over 250 children were asked on to choose from Flach, Fflam or Sbarc. “Sbarc” was a clear favourite with over 142 votes.

North Wales Chronicle:

Now, during the Coronavirus pandemic Sbarc has a number of activities - including crosswords and a rainbow to colour in - and information youngsters.

To find some of the activities, visit the 'Keeping You Safe' section of nwales-fireservice.org.uk.