About the Scheme

Luton ‘Safe at Home’ is a child accident prevention service delivered through a local multi-agency partnership led by Flying Start & Bedfordshire Early Years Alliance in association with Public Health and Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service.  The scheme provides a FREE service for families in LUTON who are pregnant or have young children under the age of five.

We focus on the priority areas of common everyday accidents such as falls, poisoning or burns. Our aim is to help families protect their young children by reducing risks. Our safety advisers provide a trusted source of knowledge, advice and information and are often the first point of contact for a parent seeking advice on home safety or keeping their child safe.

Elaine Ainsworth

Child Injury Prevention Officer & Scheme Coordinator has a wealth of experience in child safety. She personally delivers training, advice and handy tips to parents, carers and professional practitioners across Luton, supporting families from pregnancy and beyond.

Elaine is a member of the Luton Child Injury Prevention Board chaired by Public Health and also an Executive Member of the Institute of Home Safety.

As a mother of three grown up children and a grandmother to three lovely grandchildren, Elaine can relate on both professional and personal levels to the difficulties parents face when their child suffers an accident in the home resulting in a visit to the A&E department. She is passionate about raising awareness of common avoidable accidents in a friendly and non-judgemental way.

“Keeping children safe can be a challenge for all parents and especially new parents, and the responsibility and demands of a child can be daunting and overwhelming. With a little help from one of our qualified home safety advisors we hope to reassure parents by raising awareness of simple hazards and discussing how the home could be made safer for the baby or young child.  We know accident prevention saves lives and reduces injuries, and since the scheme was introduced the number of children in Luton attending A&E has declined.”

In recognition of her role in child accident prevention, Elaine was nominated to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in 2017 in honour of the centenary celebration of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Whilst there she was invited to speak personally to Princess Eugenie, and explained about the innovative work we do in Luton in preventing common everyday accidents and saving lives of young children.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

Our Home Fire Safety Advisor and approved Safe at Home Fitter for Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, who are the appointed installers for the scheme. Our partnership provides a unique service to families in Luton, combining child safety advice with a home fire safety check. Families who are eligible will receive child safety equipment installed by our installer from the Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service.  Fire safety advice on prevention and awareness will be provided including the use of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

How did Safe at Home begin?

The Safe At Home National Home Safety Equipment Scheme was a major initiative to help families keep their children safe from home accidents. The Scheme was managed by RoSPA on behalf of the Department for Education and delivered through local partners in over 130 areas of the country between April 2009 and March 2011. The main focus of the national scheme was to provide home safety equipment to low income families in areas with the highest accident rates to prevent accidental injuries or deaths.

Although the national programme has finished, Luton is fortunate that the scheme has continued locally under Flying Start Luton and we can offer families the support to help them keep their children safe from pregnancy to five. We are fortunate to have funding from Luton Rising and Luton Public Health for the scheme.