FROM the dangers of drugs and strangers, to learning how to save a life - an award-winning Barrow scheme packs a lot of key messages into an hour.

This summer some 2,000 pupils from across Furness and South Lakes are working out how to make the right decisions through a series of scenarios at Barrow Fire Station.

The fire service and the police have been joined by partners to run the life skills and safety scheme for Year Six pupils who are making the move up to secondary school in September.

The 11-year-olds are told that this safe environment is where to make a mistake and then act differently in real life.

The project sees pupils learn how to react in a fire and calmly a make a 999 call, giving all the correct information to the operator.

They also learn life-saving first aid and how to keep themselves safe online when using social media.

Helpful pupils always fall for the set up when a woman asks them to carry some boxes to a car.

The woman is a PSCO, but the police explain that this stranger could quite easily have pushed the child into a car and driven off.

During the thought-provoking session with CADAS the children are offered an unwrapped sweet. They are then told never to accept what might look like a sweet as it could be drugs.

They also learn about New Psychoactive substances, formerly legal highs, and the damage they do to people's mental health.

The children see the damage caused by anti social behaviour through CCTV footage of criminal activity and are encouraged to be good citizens.

The school nurses also explain to the children about a healthy diet and warn of the problems that can develop through having too much sugar.

The children are accompanied around the activities by Year Nine pupils from Furness Academy.

Nicola Jackson told the children that it did not matter if they had a made a mistake on the day, but to learn from it.

Miss Jackson said: "You will have to make decisions for yourself as you get older. As you grow up you will be going out independently without grown ups.

"This information is to help you for the future, you need to remember it and you will. We have adults who remember helping the stranger at Junior Citizen Scheme, so it does stick in your head."

Sam Evans, 11, of Victoria Academy, in Barrow said: "It was a very good day. I've learnt a lot. I learnt what to do if there is a fire and how to block the smoke. We also did first aid. It's good that we learnt all this, we need to know it in case something happens when we are older."

Furness Academy pupil James McKenna, 14, who helped the Year Six pupils said: "I enjoyed helping out, it brings back memories of when we came here. The scheme helped us. It is important as it teaches you what you need to know for later in life."

Miss Jackson said: "It's a great scheme and it is a vital one. It is an intense session, but it works and the pupils remember the information.

The scheme is funded by the office of Cumbria's police and crime commissioner and for the first year it has gone county-wide.

INS also sponsors the event at Barrow Fire Station.

Roger Exley, station manager at Barrow Fire Station, said: "The scheme reaches out to young people in our communities and they are at the right age to learn these messages. They learn how to save a life: it takes 10 minutes to tell them that information.

"They go away and spread the messages from the scheme."