CLAIRE
Please note that this is not the official image for our documentary.
In memory of Jack and Paul – two beautiful boys who left us too early. I’m incredibly honoured to produce a documentary dedicated to them; the Penistone community and Claire – their brave and inspirational mum. Reuniting with director Saul Tyler and welcoming Ben Reynolds as one of our producers, we hope to make a documentary which pays respect to Claire, her work and her boys.
Claire Throssell, mother, teacher and activist against domestic abuse is an ambassador for Women’s Aid; an organisation working to prevent avoidable child deaths and ensure children are put first in family courts. The event which changed Claire’s life and prompted her to take such strong action is the unimaginable tragedy of losing her two sons – Jack and Paul – who were killed in a fire set deliberately by her ex-husband. Claire fought for her boys to the best of her ability; however, she couldn’t overrule the court’s decision to allow her ex-husband contact visits. Despite her and her sons' protests, they had to visit him, which resulted in their deaths. Claire suffered, and she took that suffering and turned it into motivation to stop any other parent, or child, from suffering a similar fate. She truly is an inspiration and deserves her story to be told with a heart-to-heart talk and a celebration of her sons' lives as well as putting the Penistone community in the spotlight for their efforts. They came together to support Claire and have done an incredible job. They helped to raise the necessary money to rebuild Claire’s old house so that she could sell it and repay the mortgage on it. The mortgage which her ex-husband cancelled right before committing his crime. What money couldn’t be raised was rendered irrelevant as the people of Penistone took upon themselves to help rebuild the house with their own hands and materials. Even in the darkest hour of someone’s life, a community of family, friends and strangers can come together and rewrite a tragic story into one of hope.
Our crowdfunding campaign is now live and we will be forever grateful if you would read about the documentary, share it and pledge even £5. We are working with talented individuals who agreed to work with us free of charge; however, we still need to pay for transport, food and more. From all of our crew thank you to everyone who has pledged so far and to everyone who is planning on doing so!