When mother-of-two Lesley Cully, 40, set up a Facebook page called Buckle Up In The Back Dubai a year ago this month, she had no idea how well it would be received.
Before... "We've been in Dubai for five years now. I used to work as a Quality and Compliance manager in the UK, but I gave up working when I had my daughter six years ago. I was enjoying being a full-time mother... I wanted to be at home with my daughters. I didn't find it boring at all.
It all changed when... "I've always been disturbed by the number of children you see in cars without their seat belts on. I'm not someone who can keep quiet. So, I'd be at the traffic lights beeping on my horn and pulling at my seat belt at people whose children weren't strapped in properly.
"One day last year - I even remember the date, it was May 27 - I was on Facebook and I thought I'd set up a page to raise awareness about buckling children up in cars. I set up a Facebook page called Buckle Up In The Back Dubai, and sent it out to a few friends. I had no aim or objective... no big plans.
"I started putting up silly posts like, ‘It's hot outside. Remember your seat belts get hot, too. Be careful and buckle up in the back everyone.' It grew organically. As the page got more likes, I got more addicted.
"In October, I was invited to speak at my first school fair. At that point, we only had balloons that we had had printed ourselves... I wanted something more tangible to hand out. So, I put a message on Facebook asking if anyone could pay for campaign car stickers to be made. Move One Relocation came through and sponsored us for 1,000 stickers.
"I started thinking about how to get into the schools to talk to the children directly. My point was that the educating had to be aimed at the kids. I thought that if someone told me, ‘Your child eats too many sweets', I'd tell them to go away. But if my daughter came home and said to me, ‘Mummy, I'm eating too many sweets', I'd listen. It had to come from them. They have more pester power.
As a result... "I was hunting for months for a seat belt convincer, a machine which simulates a car crash that I could use for demonstrations in schools. A Facebook fan messaged me and said they knew someone at Shell who had one getting dusty in the cupboard.
"It was a match made in heaven - they had a seat belt convincer and I had the time and passion to take it around to the schools. So far, we've been to five schools - but there are many more to go to.
Since then... "This year the campaign has gone crazy. I started running out of stickers around the end of last year. Someone from Graco - a major car seat manufacturer - contacted me. She had found me through Facebook and said they were keen to do the next load of car stickers for me. This time the print run was 25,000.
Moving on... "At the moment, the campaign is a hot potato. But what about in two months time? My thing is still about getting into the schools and speaking to the children... it's all about making the phrase ‘Buckle Up In The Back' a phrase that people remember.
"The campaign has grown so quickly. In an ideal world there wouldn't be a need for it, but there is. Sixty three per cent of child deaths in the UAE are due to traffic accidents - and that is not considering the injuries that happen every day. Children are debilitated for life because they're not in the right car seat or not wearing seat belts.
"I don't think people are out to hurt their children. It's just they have such a sense of safety they think they are invincible. When I speak to people at the school fairs I am brutal. They don't need gentle words, they need to be told about the risks. After all, I have nothing to lose... I'm not representing a company. I'm just doing it for free in my spare time. So, I can be honest with people about the dangers, because for me it isn't about money or brand identity. It's just about saving lives."
>> Visit www.facebook.com/BuckleUpInTheBack
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