Tapping into gang culture

07/03/2007

A gang of superheroes will hit the streets of Teesside today to take children on an educational adventure about the world of water.

Characters Karl, Kelly, Jermaine, Bethany and Splash make up Northumbrian Water’s ‘H2O Gang’ and each have their own super power which is activated when they drink tap water. Dr Dry and his henchman, Drip, are evil and want to rule the world by stealing or wasting all water – it is up to the ‘H2O Gang’ to stop them!

Reporters and photographers are invited to meet the larger-than-life-size characters, along with children from a Teesside school, on Wednesday March 7, 2007 at the Dorman Museum, Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough at 10.30 am. Please arrive by 10.15 am.

Twenty-five children, aged ten and eleven, from Harewood School in Thornaby, will meet the characters and hear stories from the first two ‘H2O Gang’ comics which will be read to them by a professional storyteller.

The children will also be given bottles of superhero tap water which gives the ‘H2O Gang’ their super powers! Medical research shows that children who drink enough water throughout the day concentrate and perform better.

Northumbrian Water’s Cara Hall, said: "The superheroes will help educate children throughout the region, in a fun and appealing way. The overall message is water is precious. The ‘H2O Gang’, who will have to constantly protect themselves from Dr Dry and Drip, will explore the water cycle, how water can improve everyone’s health, how to conserve this precious resource and how some people in the third world don’t have access to safe, clean water – something we take for granted in the North East."

A competition will also be launched which will be open to children who visit the superhero exhibition at the Dorman Museum until Thursday May 31, 2007. The exhibition explains how the superheroes were created and brought to life and also gives a taste of what adventures lie ahead.

To enter the competition children will have the opportunity to create their own good and bad characters, write their own story about the superheroes and also colour in the characters.

The ‘H2O Gang’, always stalked by the evil Dr Dry and Drip, will help teach children about the world of water by visiting schools, an interactive CD-ROM, a series of comics and they will also feature on Northumbrian Water’s website.