Supa Quick has donated R100,000 towards the establishment of a Child Car Safety Learning Centre for Wheel Well. The donation follows the alarming findings which were revealed in a 2020 study. In conjunction with the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, the study revealed that South Africa isn’t the only market with low rates of car seat use, with rates in many countries around the world well below 20%.
The study also showed that even when comprehensive legislation exists, high rates of use are not possible without complimentary educational programmes, increased enforcement and supportive programmes to distribute car seats. By law, all children under 3 years-old travelling in any vehicle across South Africa should be safely restrained.
Hence the Non-profit organisation dedicated to road safety for children, established the learning centre to improve the level of child car seat compliance in the country. The facility will be equipped with detailed and entertaining visual aids, life-sized installations and various other displays to educate parents and caregivers about the importance of using car seats at all times. On-site staff will also provide tutorials on the correct installation method for the various age groups and children’s developmental stages.
“With child car seat use being dismally poor, the centre will be open to individuals and groups, such as early childhood development centres, community forums and corporates. Attending parents will be taken through the various aspects of selecting and installing of car seats, as well as the physiological factors involved in child car safety,” said Peggy Mars, founder of Wheel Well.
The learning centre is an extension of the partnership between Wheel Well and Supa Quick which also encourages people with unused child car seats to drop them off at any of the Supa Quicks fitment centres nationwide- these are then donated to Wheel Well. The new centre will be located in Randburg, which has the capacity to process and distribute 200 child car seats a month.
“This donation towards our learning centre will go a long way in enabling us to self-build a dynamic facility that will educate parents more effectively about the importance of child safety in vehicles and the use of car seats. Supa Quick is proving to be a vital network in our collection effort this year as it resumed operations during lockdown level 3 and offers an extensive national footprint,” noted Mars.
“This learning centre is the next step in a comprehensive plan to promote the correct use of child car seats, a vital component in improving road safety“With the lockdown having now eased substantially, we expect to see even better collection volumes as well as higher levels of engagement, so we can support Wheel Well in delivering even more car seats to parents in need,” added Supa Quick Brand Manager, Yolandi Grundeling.
