Make sure you're not next victim of sniffing (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Make sure you're not next victim of sniffing

GARY Perring's family have put up the first posters in their campaign to stop other children dying from solvent abuse.

Hard-hitting posters featuring a photo of Gary, who died after inhaling a deodorant aerosol, are now being distributed to schools across Wiltshire.

Gary's grandfather Larry and aunt Julie Southgate put up the first at Bradon Forest School in Purton, where Gary was a pupil.

It is hoped that the posters, which have been designed by the Evening Advertiser, will eventually form part of a national campaign to save other children, with the help of solvent abuse charity Solve-It.

Gary, 13, died in January a few minutes after inhaling deodorant as his family prepared to go out to celebrate his grandmother Gloria's birthday.

The poster reads: "Gary Perring died in minutes. His family watched him suffer a terrifying death. They will never forget it. Neither should you."

Mr Perring, 57, said he was confident that the posters would have a real impact on pupils and make them think twice before experimenting with solvents.

He and Mrs Southgate, 33, of Penhill, are to undergo training by experts in solvent abuse before touring classrooms across Swindon.

Mrs Southgate said it is impossible to know exactly how widespread solvent abuse is, but she believes it is a problem in some areas of Swindon.

"I don't think we'll ever know the extent of it but several children have told us the pupils they knew were doing it have now stopped," she said. According to Solve-It, on average volatile substance abuse kills five young people in the UK every month, and in 2000 it accounted for seven times as many deaths as ecstasy.

One of the reasons Gary's death has reverberated around Swindon so strongly is because he attended so many schools in the town.

At various times the teenager, who lived with his grandfather in Washpool, West Swindon, went to Oliver Tomkins, Toothill Primary, Lydiard Millicent, Seven Fields Primary, and Greendown Community School. Len Spiers, head teacher at Bradon Forest, said: "Gary's death was a complete shock to everyone.

"In the 1980s solvent abuse was something everybody was aware of and this campaign is about re-emphasising the dangers.

"If it means even one child doesn't do what Gary did it will have been a success."

Solve-It's helpline is 01536 420604.