The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) has received the Product Safety Award at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) annual Hero Awards ceremony which celebrates outstanding achievements in consumer protection in the UK.
The Hero Awards were hosted on 22 November by CTSI and Yvonne Fovargue MP in the House of Commons and recognised individuals and groups that have done outstanding work this year to protect consumers and support honest businesses.
CAPT engages in a range of campaigns to raise awareness around child safety. Their button battery project resulted in the distribution of 155,000 printed education resources to communities throughout the UK. This project also encompassed the creation of advice resources with the Scottish Government, social media content, and engaging with a range of professionals, from Councillors to Product Safety experts.
CAPT has also produced a video on the dangers of recalled reusable water balloons, which garnered over 20,000 views on social media. CAPT videos have been widely supported by the Office for Product Safety and Standards, Trading Standards Wales, public health teams and the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, CTSI and the Institute for Health Promotion and Education.
The work of CAPT is spearheaded by the Chief Executive of the organisation, Katrina Phillips OBE, who travels the length and breadth of Britain to ensure that child safety is kept high on the agenda of policy makers, professionals, carers, and parents.
CTSI Chief Executive John Herriman said: “It gives me great pleasure to give the Product Safety Award to such an incredible organisation. The Child Accident Prevention Trust has worked tirelessly this year to ensure that more consumers are aware of the dangers that button batteries and reusable water balloons can pose to children and worked with a variety of Government and consumer professionals to keep young people safe. Their work inspires us all.
It is fantastic to see such innovative initiatives in this space, involving social media platforms and educational resources, and shows just how much consumer protection can do for young people and families in the UK.”
Katrina Phillips, CAPT’s Chief Executive said: “I’m delighted to receive the Product Safety Award on behalf of the Child Accident Prevention Trust. We are passionate about helping parents to choose safer products for their home and their children.
“We believe no child should come to harm from dangerous products and parents should be able to buy safe products. Sadly, that’s not the case and it’s essential parents are alerted to ever growing risks when shopping online.”
CAPT has also participated in media coverage of key issues, such as with the ITV Evening News, and organised webinars and session plans for local practitioners.
Richard Collin, External Affairs Director from UKAS who supports the Product Safety Award category helped to present the Award.