Christian Chandler: Family determined to honour memory of tragic Telford boy
The family of a Telford boy who died after being hit by a bus have reaffirmed their commitment to starting a charity in his name.
Aimee Chandler said they were looking into how to set up a charity for her son, Christian, who was riding on the pavement in Haybridge Road, Hadley, when he fell into the path of an oncoming Arriva bus.
They already have a number of ideas about how to start raising money in his name.
In the meantime, she is collecting money for the air ambulance through her Facebook page.
Since his death on October 16, thousands of pounds have been raised for the air ambulance and for The Association of Blood Bikes for Christian.
"I are trying to raise as much as I can in memory of Christian," Aimee said.
"If it wasn't for the air ambulance, Christian wouldn't have survived as long as he did. They did an amazing job – as much as they could do."
Money from Christian's charity would be split equally between the air ambulance and the blood bikes.
"We've got some ideas," Aimee said. "We're going to ask local schools to do a Smile for Christian Day, which would be non-uniform and then all the money would come into the charity. We'd then split it equally between the two charities.
"We're coming up with a few other ideas and trying to piece it all together and learn how to set up a charity.
"We want to raise as much money as possible, but also raise awareness about how hard these two charities work."
Aimee started her current fundraising effort to mark her birthday on March 6.
"I put the budget to £300 – the Facebook post is public and anybody can see it.
"A little donation goes a long way, and £300 is a lot of money. It certainly all helps."
To donate to the cause, visit Aimee Chandler on Facebook.
Christian was a popular, funny boy who friends said showed great compassion and warmth.
After the terrible news of his death the community came together to raise thousands of pounds towards his funeral.
More than £12,000 was collected in his name, with some of that being given to the Midlands Air Ambulance charity.
Christian’s family said that it had been “breathtaking” how much had been raised.
“The little things have lifted the family,” stepfather Carl Chandler said.
“It’s good to know there’s still really nice people out there in the community and that they can come together.”
Among those who had worked hardest to support Christian’s memory was Defined Ridez, a car club which raised more than £900 with a parade of 200 vehicles through Telford.
