Beermat design aims to beat crime

A Teesside University student’s design for a beermat with a serious message is to be seen in pubs and clubs across the region.

Final year BA (Hons) Graphic Design student Craig Wright created the design which appears on 50,000 beermats promoting the Crimestoppers charity. His design shows an ambiguous image of a youth leaning towards the open window of a car – along with the shape of a missing jigsaw piece and the question ‘Can you fill in the missing piece?’ Craig, 22, of Newcastle, said: 'I was aiming for a design which could suggest something suspicious might be happening, to help get the message across that Crimestoppers is there to help.' He got involved in designing the beermats through volunteering with Teesside University’s volunteer project VolunTees, an online resource which enables organisations to promote volunteering opportunities to students and staff across the University. Craig said: 'I volunteer with the Crimestoppers Youth Board and heard about the project to design a beermat to promote the Crimestoppers charity. When I was thinking about my design I wanted to highlight the contact details, the confidentiality and the possibility of a cash reward.'

It’s crucial to get students involved David Hunter, regional manager of Crimestoppers, said: 'It’s crucial to get students involved as they represent the volunteers of the future. Craig’s beermat design will help to raise awareness of Crimestoppers, highlighting that we are an independent charity which works in close partnership with Cleveland Police. We’re supported by volunteers across the community.' He added: 'The beermats will have longevity as they will remain in pubs and clubs where they will be regularly seen and hopefully encourage more people think about doing something to help tackle crime by passing on information. We never identify a caller.'

Chief Inspector Tariq Ali, of Cleveland Police Communities Unit, said: 'The design is really important as it is will help to capture people’s imagination and encourage members of the community to pass on any information they might have.

'We have the lowest recorded crime in recent years, detection rates are up and we have one of the highest rates of public confidence in the country. But we still need the public’s help and people providing information through Crimestoppers can help us to increase those detection rates further.'

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