APPCOG Stakeholder Forum 2023

(Image: Gordon and Avril with Paul Overton and Ian Palmer-Smith)

On Tuesday, 14th November, Gordon and Avril Samuel attended the APPCOG Stakeholder Forum at Portcullis House, Westminster. Rob Lyon, Chairman of the APPCOG Comms Committee, highlighted the focus of this year’s Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week 20th-26th November 2023.

Rob directed participants to https://www.coalarmssavelives.com/carbon-monoxide-awareness-week-23 where assets and videos for the week could be downloaded.

This CO Awareness Week will highlight symptoms and sources of, and mitigations against, by compelling testimonies of families’ lived experiences of CO poisoning and fatality. Rob, KHMT Patron, filmed Gordon and me while we watched the beautiful film he made of Katie a few years ago. Paul Overton, sadly another bereaved parent, spoke movingly of the death of his stepdaughter, Katie Overton, who died at the age of 11½ years due to carbon monoxide poisoning at 7 Oxford Road, Southsea. In addition, Wayne Merry, Cadent Gas was a guest speaker and gave a presentation on The Services Beyond the Meter project, which supports vulnerable households to make practical home adjustments to improve CO safety. Having conducted thousands of investigations, this vital work is protecting many against the risks of CO and amassing a large, important dataset on CO exposure. Wayne shared progress to date and exciting potential outcomes of the project. We are photographed with Paul Overton, Ian Palmer-Smith (valued supporter of KHMT), and Rob Lyon, Patron, KHMT and friend.

Useful information:
Outside the home – Factsheet
Most at risk – Factsheet
Staying Safe – Factsheet
Symptoms – Factsheet