Let’s Relish the Lights and Sounds of Guy Fawkes this November — While Being Cautious…
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always enjoyed fireworks. I remember when I was small and we used to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night at home in the garden, with my parents and sister.
Traditionally, like many other households, we’d make as much fuss about the food as the fireworks themselves.
Hot jacket potatoes, straight from the oven, baked beans, Vienna sausages and mugs of steaming tomato soup.
Takes me back to my childhood.
The fireworks you could do at home used to be awful and all very similar. But as children, we still found it rather thrilling to see Dad light the taper before dashing back to safety, anticipating the whizz and bang of another rocket or roman candle.
When our son David was very small, we used to take him to the local public firework display at the old Copthall Stadium. I remember one bitterly cold November evening, the display started with rousing classical music and a laser light show.
I could see his little face looking rather anxious.
Then the display started, and the noise was absolutely deafening. David was terrified and started to cry with fear and panic. I had to pick him up and run back with him to my parents’ flat about one mile away.
No wonder I have a bad back now!
For the last several years (now that our kids have grown up), we’ve had a small family firework ‘party’ at home. I am now the one lighting the taper and running for cover, whilst the garden fills with the smoke and smell of sulphur.
The neighbours’ dogs bark and howl, and you can hear the fire engines in the distance!
The best firework display I have ever seen live was on New Year’s Eve in London on the Thames a few years ago.
Simply breathtaking. The noise, the colour, the smell, the vibration — all were incredible.
Although I love a good firework show, you will appreciate — given my chosen career — that deep inside, I have an innate fear and concern for the damage fireworks can do.
I’ve seen so many fire-damaged properties over the years that I know full well the devastation a stray spark can cause. My wife, Suzanne, loves lighting candles around the house. They can look stunning and are very relaxing, too.
But when it’s time to go to bed, I check and double check that all candles are properly extinguished.
It’s just not worth taking a chance, and I can’t rest until I know all is safe.
I dealt with a claim, several years ago, for a well-known makeup artist, when her house was severely damaged by fire. It occurred when the sun’s rays were refracted (I like that word) through an ornamental glass ball on the table in her front room, causing the curtains to ignite.
My client and her young family were away at the time, fortunately, but the house was devastated.
It really doesn’t take much to suffer a life-changing moment when you least expect it.
So, I guess I have mixed feelings about fireworks. I appreciate the fun, joy and sheer thrill they can bring. But I am also wary of the damage and injury they can cause if not treated with the greatest respect.
Fortunately, my memories of Guy Fawkes Night are mostly happy ones.
I hope yours are too.
Light up the sky this November 5, but above all, keep safe.
Best wishes
P.S. With the days now ever shorter and evenings drawing in, the chances of you or someone you know being burglared are significantly increased. We are here for you should you need our help in making a claim as we know first hand just how stressful this experience can be.
But as Christmas approaches we are also very aware, that there are others who are far worse off than you or me. When its freezing cold and wet outside, the homeless folk have nowhere to go, and no one to share it with.
The loneliness can be unbearable at Christmas.
So for the rest of this year, if you refer a claim to us here at The Claims Desk, we promise to donate £26.08p to Crisis at Christmas.
Why such an odd amount?
Well it costs a mere £26.08 to reserve a place for someone at Crisis for Christmas. This provides much more than one Christmas dinner. It means that one homeless person will have three nutritious meals, as well as the chance to benefit from life-changing services.
This year Crisis at Christmas expects to welcome more than 4,700 guests over nine days. So even if you suffer some misfortune over the coming weeks, we can not only help you, but we promise that we will also be supporting this wonderful cause on your behalf, so everyone can truly benefit’.
If you have a claim or if you’d like to refer someone to me you can do so by emailing me at [email protected] or you call me on 07782 195 455
