Welephant
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| Type | Charitable trust |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Website | http://www.welephant.co.uk |
Welephant is a red elephant cartoon character with a fireman's helmet, originally used as a mascot by fire brigades in the United Kingdom to promote fire safety to children. Since 1989, however the character has become the mascot for the Children's Burn Trust.[1]
"Matches matches never touch, they can hurt you very much".
Creation of Welephant
Welephant was created for the Greater Manchester Fire Service in order to promote awareness of the dangers of fire to the local school children. A competition was set where pupils of the local schools submitted drawings of a possible mascot that the fire department could use. The competition was won by 14 year old Susan Buttner, whilst she was a pupil at Oulder Hill High School, Rochdale. Susan has gone on to have a successful teaching career and has developed a passion for renovating furniture. [2]
Going National
Through popular demand, Welephant went National and was used by fire & rescue services throughout the United Kingdom to promote fire safety to the pupils of primary schools in their local area.[3]
Charity Name Change
In 1996 Welephant Club Inc was changed to The National Fire Safety Charity for Children.[4]