#OpBangChallenge – win a cash prize for your club, group or school

Are you aware of a club, group or school that would like to be in with a chance of winning up to £750?

North Wales Police – in partnership with PACT (Police & Communities Trust) and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service have launched #OpBangChallenge – an opportunity for children and young people aged between five and 18 to complete a project to better their community in some way.

With Halloween and Bonfire Night fast approaching, all three are once again working together to ensure the celebrations are safe and enjoyable for everyone.

Projects could look at matters such as promoting road safety for young people walking to and from school during the winter or creating a project that looks at anti-social behaviour and how it affects communities. Other ideas include raising awareness of the dangers of fireworks and improving neglected areas to help prevent fires.

PC Melanie Cartledge-Davies, North Wales Police’ Youth Engagement and Intervention Officer said: “This is all about looking at ways at how something could be improved in your communities. This time of the year is traditionally busy for all emergency services across Wales, with a small minority of people using Halloween and Bonfire Night to commit anti-social behaviour, placing themselves and others at risk of injury.

“By launching #OpBangChallenge we are hoping that children and young people will be inspired to think of ways on how to make a difference in their communities and is also an opportunity to increase the amount of positive contact between the police and young people.

“This is a great opportunity for them to get together with their friends and help in their local area.

“The projects must help make a difference to the lives of other people so we look forward to seeing what creative ideas the teams will come up with and the impact that they’ll have on their communities.”

Kelsey Reed, PACT Manager at North Wales Police said: “PACT are delighted once again to be involved in the Op Bang Challenge working together in partnership with North Wales Police and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service. It is a great initiative giving young people a chance to give back to their community and be in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes for themselves or their club.”

Kevin Jones, Head of Prevention for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “We’re proud to support the work of #OpBang to help keep our communities safe.

“We want people to enjoy celebrating safely - the number of incidents involving fireworks and bonfires we attend has reduced dramatically as the public have listened to our plea to attend organised displays rather than setting off their own fireworks at home.

“You can view a list of the organised displays we are supporting in North Wales on our website here.”

First prize is £750, second prize is £500 and the third prize is £250 plus there will be further cash prizes to be won. Teams can register from Monday 14^th October and the competition closes on November 11^th.

Further details regarding the challenge as well as how to register is available via: Op Bang Challenge 2024 - Firework & Bonfire Safety - In your community - Keeping You Safe - North Wales Fire And Rescue Service (gov.wales)

The Challenge:

• Your team must be part of an established club, class or school
• There is no upper or lower limit on numbers of people to form a team
• A team can be made up of a mixture of ages between 5 – 18 years.
• More than one team project may be entered into the competition
• Each group must have at least one adult supervisor – someone who is part of the team and is aged 18 years or over
• Your adult advisor will need to register your team.
• For further information about the challenge email: [email protected]