Primary school pupils across Northern Ireland are being alerted to the dangers of bogus callers by NI Water’s annual schools’ art competition. Pupils are invited to design and upload a safety card highlighting the important safety message “Bogus Callers -Don’t Let Them In!” and could win prize money for their school. Pictured are Laura Mc Crystal (7), Conor Shrimpton (8)and Olivia McCrystal (9) from Dunmurry. (Picture by Brian Morrison.)[/caption] The theme of this year’s competition is “Bogus Callers-Don’t Let them In” and is open to all primary schools in Northern Ireland. Pupils are asked to design and upload a safety card to promote the messages of the NI Water ‘Bogus Callers’ campaign. More than half of the crimes committed in the UK are carried out by criminals who visit people’s homes and pretend to be from a water company. Given this statistic, NI Water is encouraging members of the public to be vigilant of those posing as NI Water employees in order to gain access to your home. Jane Jackson, NI Water’s Environmental Education Manager said: “We are delighted with the great response that we have received from schools across Northern Ireland since the competition began in 2007. In previous years we have had over 5,000 entries on the various key messages of NI Water, in the form of art, poetry, wraps and model making. “This year we are using the challenge of IT to create the front of the downloadable safety card, giving the message of the dangers of “Bogus Callers” and also providing pupils with the opportunity to win prize money for their school. Not only is this a fun activity for pupils but this is also a great way to highlight the dangers of bogus callers to the home. There are also prizes available in each of the categories for the most creative designs and I would encourage as many schools as possible to get involved to support this important campaign.”]]>