Tees Valley
Mum puts grief into words to back chip pan campaign
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| CAMPAIGN HELP: With the cheque are, from left, Bryan Ford, David Atkinson, Les Jones and Lynn Ford |
PARENTS who lost their son in
a chip pan fire are a step closer
to stamping out the deadly
kitchen equipment.
Lynn and Bryan Ford were at
Cleveland Fire Brigade Headquarters
yesterday to present a
cheque for £1,000 for a book of
poems Mrs Ford wrote after her
son's death.
Andrew died at the age of 22
when he left a chip pan unattended
and fell asleep after a
night out with friends.
His younger brother, Chris,
who was 17 at the time, escaped
the blaze just minutes before the
house, in Surbiton Road, Stockton,
exploded.
Mrs Ford, a volunteer at the
brigade, hopes her compilation
will be published on June 3,
which would have been Andrew's
25th birthday.
She said that, after Andrew
died, she would lie in bed unable
to sleep so decided to put her
thoughts about him down on
paper.
"One is about the night he
died, one is called Cheeky
Chops, which is about Andrew
as a little boy, and another is
called Little Chef, as he loved to
cook.
"The book is for anyone who
has lost somebody.
"Hopefully it will bring them
comfort and raise awareness of
how dangerous chip pans are."
The £1,000 donation was given
by Talisman Energy, the company
Mr Ford works for as an
offshore installation manager.
He said: "They have a fund for
worthwhile causes and when I
applied they were very supportive."
Proceeds from the book will
go towards Cleveland Fire
Brigade and Middlesbrough Primary
Care Trust's campaign,
Ban the Pan, to eradicate chip
pans.
The service is lobbying manufacturers
and retailers to stop
selling the pans and replace
them with safer, temperaturecontrolled,
deep fat fryers.
David Atkinson, the brigade's
community education manager,
said 43 per cent of house fires
were caused by chip or grill
pans.
"We are trying to get the message
across that there are alternatives
to chip pans.
"People can use deep fat fryers
or buy oven chips, which is a
much healthier alternative.
"If people really want chips,
they can get them from the fish
and chip shop."
Les Jones, the brigade's head
of community safety, praised all
Mrs Ford had done for the Ban
the Pan campaign.
He said: "After all she has
been through, she has been a
great ambassador. She is an
amazing woman."
10:18am Saturday 10th May 2008
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