Pleas to consider army veterans and children with autism this firework season

Campaigners and charities are backing calls to rethink about how best to enjoy fireworks this year – given the range of people and animals negatively affected by very loud bangs.

It is legal to use fireworks all-year round, though they must be set off prior to 11pm, except on Bonfire Night (until midnight), or New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year (1am).

Conversations about fireworks have been heating up locally and nationally – with the usual pleas on social media for people to be more aware and considerate of others.

In 2018, a Wargrave resident Jane Foddy spearheaded a campaign to get people to use quieter fireworks, appearing on ITV’s This Morning. This was sparked by witnessing he ‘extreme’ fear of her dog, Teddy.

That year, nearly 300,000 people signed a petition calling for a ban on sale and use of fireworks by the public, triggering a debate in Parliament – but MPs ultimately rejected this.

Farmers in the area have also had problems, with reports of animals sometimes fleeing the noise.

Some have found ways to cope – for example, Copas Traditional Turkeys has long had the novel solution of setting off its own fireworks during the day to slowly desensitise the turkeys.

Though Jane is concerned with the welfare of wild and domestic animals, she is also concerned for autistic children or armed forces veterans, among other vulnerable people.

She recounted a story she was told about someone with a child with autism who would ‘scream in terror’ when they heard the bangs – and their parents ‘couldn’t do anything’ to help.

Jane advocates for ‘quiet’ fireworks more focused on the colours and effects, making noise in the 70–80 decibel range – about as loud as a close-by vacuum cleaner.

“Quiet fireworks are available readily available in shops,” she said. “They’re no less spectacular and no more expensive than the very noisy ones [that] shake your windows and frighten people to death.

“My feeling is, why not just do the right thing and choose them instead, for the sake of everybody?”

In recent year, Autism Berkshire has also been recommending light or laser displays instead of fireworks to make them autism friendly.

William Crossley from the charity said: “Autism is a lifelong condition and the issues don’t just disappear.

“A lot of it is around heightened sensitivity. The noises of fireworks can make autistic people quite upset and alarmed.

“It's also not predictable, which can be an issue.”

He encouraged people with questions to head to the National Autistic Society and Ambitious about Autism for some tips.

Armed forces veterans can be impacted due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The bangs can trigger distressing memories of gunfire and explosions in combat.

Dr Naomi Wilson, clinical director at Combat Stress mental health services for veterans, told the Advertiser that the distress of firework season is compounded by it coinciding with the Armistice commemoration, and the grief this brings up.

“We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, but we urge the public to understand how distressing this can be for military veterans,” Dr Wilson said.

“We would encourage people to enjoy organised firework events instead of letting off their own fireworks. But if you’re planning your own private display, please let your neighbours know.

“Veterans can put coping strategies in place – but need to be able to plan in advance.

“We continue to call on the Government to conduct an independent review of existing fireworks legislation.”

There is now another petition to Parliament in motion, this time to reduce the maximum noise level for consumer fireworks from 120 to 90 decibels.

It has nearly 59,000 signatures at the moment and will be considered for a debate in Parliament if it reaches 100,000.