Published at 16:34, Thursday, 10 January 2013

FRIENDS and family of a teenager killed in a motorbike accident hope a charity concert being held in his memory will help raise awareness of road safety.

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

Joe Took, 18, died last February when his motorbike collided with a wall in Abbey Road, Barrow. An inquest found the rear tyre on his bike was unsuitable for road use.

Since the accident, his father David has raised money for charity and a permanent memorial, which was unveiled in October.

He said: “When the coroner told us the main cause of the accident was the type of tyre on Joe’s bike, we wanted to know why nobody had noticed that.

“The truth is that dirtbike tyres are perfectly legal on the road, but they don’t have the same grip. Kids hear ‘legal’ and think that’s acceptable enough, but we are creating an eight-page booklet to get the message out there.”

The first major fundraising event from Team Joe Took – a group of family members and close friends – will be Diamond Fest, a charity concert at The Nines in Barrow on February 23.

Reprising a successful event held last April, which raised almost £2,000, local bands and artists such as CodeJak, Mad4It, Lisa GaGa and Jamie Bosanko will perform, with the event split into an afternoon fun day for children and an evening concert for adults.

Organiser Carly Wojcik hopes it will become a permanent event.

She said: “Last year’s show went really well, and we’ve tried to make it more of an all-day event this time. It’s a lot of work, but I’d be happy to help every year.”

Co-organiser Shaun Young added: “Joe was into all kinds of music, so he’d have loved it. If there was going to be girls there, he’d have been there.”

Mr Took is planning a few surprises for the night, and may perform some numbers of his own.

“It might surprise a few people to know that I’m actually not a bad singer. I’ve not done anything like this before but I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

Tickets for the daytime event and evening concert will be available from next week.

See the Going Out section in next Thursday’s Evening Mail for more details.

Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk