Angela Griffin steps up to support FSID 

Former Waterloo Road actress, Angela Griffin, has been FSID's celebrity patron since 2007, and is fronting this year's Save a Baby Month appeal. Find out more about why she supports the UK’s leading cot death charity. 

As a mother of two, Angela Griffin has experienced the anguish parents can feel about the threat of cot death. “When Tallulah first started nursery, one of the mums there lost her baby to cot death,” she explains. “It was awful. It terrified me when I had Melissa. I can’t think of anything worse than losing a child. My kids mean everything to me. In fact, the whole thing became such a massive worry for me that I started donating money to FSID and became so involved that I became their celebrity patron.”

Over the past two years, Angela has helped us raise awareness about what parents can do to reduce the risk of cot death, doing a number of high profile interviews for newspapers and magazine. In November 2007, Angela and her family won £30,000 for FSID on ITV's All Star Family Fortunes, beating Anthony Worrall-Thompson and his family. This was a fantastic boost for FSID, and the money they won has helped support bereaved families, fund research, and provide new parents with information on the steps they can take to reduce the risk of cot death: “We were thrilled to have won Family Fortunes. The work FSID has done to stop babies dying is amazing and we were pleased that the money we raised is going to such an important cause.”

Angela is also fronting FSID’s Save a Baby Month campaign in May, and hoping to join thousands of other supporters from all over the country to walk a sponsored ‘Mile in Memory’ on Saturday 17 May. Cot death is still the biggest killer of babies over one month old in the UK, claiming around 300 infants’ lives every year – that’s more than road traffic accidents, leukaemia and meningitis put together. “FSID’s studies have shown that up to 60% of all cot deaths could be prevented with the correct information and support, so awareness of the reduce the risk messages is vital, and I feel privileged that I can help them get the information out there.”

Angela is currently working on a four part series for ITV called Boy Meets Girl, due to show this summer.

Picture courtesy of Camera Press