Young people across York will see the effects of taking unnecessary risks first hand when a SMARTRisk Heroes roadshow tours local secondary schools.

Funded by City of York Council, the SMARTRisk Heroes roadshow takes pupils on an emotional journey, highlighting the risks we all take in our daily life and demonstrates how we can all take a smart risk. The show is about developing peoples own skills to recognise and manage risks so that they can keep taking smart risks for the rest of their lives.

Every pupil at Burnholme Community College, Millthorpe School, Fulford School and York High experienced the SMARTRisk Heroes roadshow this week (from Tuesday 9 to Friday 12 October)
 
The Heroes show has been specifically designed to appeal to young people with a DVD presentation, fast moving images and loud up to date music, similar to a music video. This is accompanied by a live presentation from an injury survivor who will speak candidly about how injury has changed their life. The performances in York will feature two women  - Leana Stewart from Northamptonshire and Georgina Hurst from West Yorkshire.

Leana was 18 when she was involved in a car accident which left her paralysed from the waist down.

Georgina suffered a broken neck after her car was in collision with an oncoming vehicle.
 
Tom Foxton, the council's road safety project officer, explained: "The problem is that young people tend to think that they're invincible or unstoppable. Rather than presenting a list of negative messages ,SMARTRISK Heroes speaks to young people in their own language and offers strategies that are based on the real world where risk is a part of living.
 
"We don't want to worry people or stop them enjoying themselves, but we hope to stop people taking risks that can cause serious injury. Our past experience of the SMARTRisk show has proved extremely positive both from teachers and pupils."