Over 1,500 school kids from Surrey became 'junior citizens' after completing a rigourous risk training course at Epsom Racecourse recently.

Junior Citizens is an interactive workshop-based event organised by Child Safety Media, a national provider of child safety events in the UK, and supported by organisations including Amey, Surrey Police, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, RNLI, Hope UK and Children and Family Health Surrey.

Students aged 10 and 11 from 29 different schools in Surrey took part in this year's training event at the Epsom Racecourse on March 2.

Issues including personal safety, fire safety, water safety, drug education, healthy eating, dental hygiene and recycling were all tackled with experts on hand to provide guidance and pas on their own knowledge to the next generation.

Dan Boneham, Director at Child Safety Media, which has been organising Junior Citizen style events across the UK since 2013, described why the course was so important.

"Year 6 pupils are at an important stage in their lives as they make the transition from primary to secondary school.

"We take an interactive approach to education by delivering hands-on events using the LASER principle (Learning About Safety by Experiencing Risk).

"This enables pupils to learn important life skills and safety messages in a safe and controlled environment and it was great to see so many Surrey schoolchildren learning whilst having fun," he said.

Among the groups lending their expertise were bin collectors Amey, who taught the kids about recycling and responsible waste management.

Nicola Blake, Account Director for Amey’s Waste Collections Services Team in Surrey, reflected on the day: “Young people represent the future of Surrey, so it’s crucial that we engage them on issues that boost social value and make Surrey a better place to live, work and travel.

"It’s also really important that we do this in a fun and memorable way.

"Having participated in one of the sessions and seen first-hand how much fun the pupils were having, I think the message was getting through loud and clear and the Amey team was delighted to be a part of it.”