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NEWS STORY

Be button battery aware

I've pledged to be ‘button battery aware’ at the Westminster launch of the Harper Lee Foundation, a charity which aims to reduce the risk to children of accidents and death from foreign body ingestion such as button and coin battery ingestion.

The foundation has also been set up to provide a lasting legacy following the death of Harper-Lee Fanthorpe, who tragically passed at the age of two after swallowing a tiny battery from a remote control, which caused her internal injuries.

The Westminster launch of The Harper Lee Foundation coincided with Child Safety Week and today, Sunday 12th June, is National Button Battery Awareness Day.

At the event, I got to meet with my Garrowhill constituent Michelle McKenna, who works as the Senior Trading Standards Officer for North Lanarkshire Trading Standards. Michelle has been working hard to raise awareness of the challenges faced by our Trading Standards Officers and it was great to be able to discuss this with her.

Michelle has also been raising awareness of the dangers of button batteries in homes to help prevent accidental child deaths from occurring. She has produced this short video below to show the kinds of places they can be found in houses.

The work that Michelle is doing, as well as all those involved with the Harper Lee Foundation, is really important and will hopefully bring about greater understanding in order to prevent more accidents and deaths.

I'm delighted to back this campaign to raise awareness of the danger of button battery ingestion and hope that by spreading the word, I can play my part in preventing a tragedy in Glasgow East.

For more information on button and coin cell safety please visit the Child Accident Prevention Trust's website.

More information on the Harper Lee Foundation can be found on its website.