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Harlequins players and Strictly Come Dancing stars sign bike helmets for charity auction

The Harlequins rugby squad along with Strictly Come Dancing stars Pixie Lott, Brendan Cole and Len Goodman have signed bike helmets to be auctioned for charity.

The celebrities have autographed, doodled and even embellished their white helmets with multi-coloured feathers and sequins to help raise awareness of National Road Safety Week (November 17-23) and raise funds for Brake.

The Snowman creator Raymond Briggs has also lent his talents to the cause by transforming a plain white helmet into a remarkable snowman monster’s head.

road safety week helmet snowman creator biggs
SNOWMAN SAFETY: Raymond Briggs created this design on his bike helmet

Julie Townsend, Deputy Chief Executive of Brake said: “We’re delighted the Brain Injury Group and its members are getting involved with Road Safety Week and helping to spread the ‘look out for each other’ message to save lives on our roads.

“Local support for the road safety cause is vital if we are to achieve our goal of putting an end to road deaths and injuries and the terrible suffering they cause.

road safety week harlequins
RUGBY SUPPORT: Harlequins stars autograph their bike helmet

“We can go a long way to achieving this if we all commit to look out for each other on roads, especially drivers helping to protect those on foot and bike, who are most vulnerable.”

The Brain Injury Group invited a range of people to take part in the campaign with the first person signing up to the idea being double Olympic gold medallist rower and adventurer James Cracknell OBE.

road safety week james cracknell
OLYMPIC SUPPORT: James Cracknell lends his support to the campaign

He believes his cycle helmet saved his life in July 2010 when he was hit by a truck while riding across America.

The Harlequins’ Danny Care, Chris Robshaw, Joe Marler and Mike Brown signed one helmet.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Sunetra Sarker, Pixie Lott, Brendan Cole, Anton du Beke, Kristina Rihanoff, Steve Backshall and Len Goodman also took time out from rehearsals to show their support.

road safety week strictly come dancing
KEEP EMBELLISHING! Strictly stars take a break from the dance floor to embellish their bike helmet

Sally Dunscombe, Director of the Brain Injury Group, said: “Half of traumatic brain injuries are caused by road traffic collisions, many of which were preventable, and our member firms work daily with people affected by brain injury and its life-changing consequences.

“Road Safety Week is a campaign that puts all our work into context which is why we’ve supported this initiative for several years.

“We asked people from the worlds of sport, entertainment and literature to show their support by decorating and autographing helmets.

“The idea was to promote the campaign, to inspire the 4000 children in 15 schools who were asked to design their own helmets, and to generate funds to support the ongoing work of Brake, the charity behind Road Safety Week.”

The Brain Injury Group is auctioning the helmets throughout Road Safety Week and all money raised from their sale will go to Brake.

To see the line-up of helmets and to place your bid visit http://www.braininjurygroup.co.uk/road-safety-week/helmets

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