Andrew Wayne Braysford

This is for my beautiful boy who struggled for so many years and never came to terms with the
rejection from his father Wayne, the boy who gave up at the age of 14 and used drugs to numb his
pain, the boy who tried his hardest to be the best dad ever and loved his son, the boy who finally
in the past year tried to turn around his life and was starting college this september and signed on
with an employment agency, the boy who underneath all the macho hard boy exterior was deeply caring
and sensitive, the boy who could make us laugh with his great sense of humour and ideas of wayward
schemes, the boy who made us cry and caused us heartbreak many times,the boy who made mistakes and
had some great achievements, the boy who was known as a lovable rogue and everybody involved with
Andrew loved and cared for him so much and tried their best to help him to overcome his struggles
because we could all see how much he had to offer.
Sleep tight now baby boy - I know you are no longer in pain and we meet again one day until then we
will carry you in our hearts and miss you. xxx


Andrew's inquest took place on the 17th October this year and all it took for him to die where 15
seconds of inhaling lighter fluid no other traces of drugs where found in his body not even alcohol,
in some ways I am glad about this knowing that he was turning his life around away from drugs but
like the coroner said 15 seconds of madness destroyed all the good work he had done but I am proud
that he had come so far after all the years of hardache and wishing that he was still here. I spoke
to him the day he died we were supposed to meet but never did, wish I would have had that last time
with him, just another hug and another one of his cheeky smiles, I miss him so much and not a day
goes by when I don't think of him.


These are some of the things people said about Andy at his funeral and I am so proud of all his
friends who helped to take Andy on his final journey.

Kez, Chris and Brolly:
"Dear Andy,
What a week eh!?!Even though this has been a hard week for everyone it's brought back hidden
memories, the fondest of which was you being site supervisor building that den on Dawes' car park
out of old crates and hiding from the employees on their fag breaks. It's fair to say you had your
brushes with the law and your cheeky stuntman moments. We remebered Chris staying at yours and it
was 3am in the morning and that couple were arguing down the back street so you had the bright idea
of shining a torch at them, 10 minutes later you heard a knock at the door and this huge cop was
stood in front of you and Chris for unknown reasons. Even though the cop was giving you both the
third degree on shining torches you were still trying your upmost that Kirsten didn't wake up and
both keeping massive fits of laughter pouring out. You thought you'd evaded the Wrath of your
mother, but...two weeks later the bright spark across the road dropped you in it by asking Kirsten
what the police car was doing outside the house the other week at 3 in the morning.

We also remember going to watch Burnley at the Turf against Reading, we lost 3-0 that day and we
went to the coaches to give them the traditional V's and you went that little bit further and
started blowing kisses with your trackies in your socks and your hat perfectly pointed at 23
degrees. No wonder that cop had a word with you.

The time you, Brolly and Canning got up late to get something to eat. After spilling cocoa powder
all over the floor you were all somehow inspired to go for a run in nothing but your boxers. It was
originally a dare to run down Hallam Road without being spotted and were hiding behind cars on
Hendon Road so Kez wouldn't spot you walking past his house. You got to Andy's house and started
walking the streets.

Do you also remember the time when we went throught the Jackass stage of throwing hard objects at
each other and going through the phase of Bush diving. This is for sure, no bush looked the same, it
either had a big butt mark in it or looked like the owner went crazy on it with some shears.

Also you and Kez going down the stairs in that blue box, no matter what, we always managed to find
fun, even if it was out of nothing. Even in Science when it got boring how we managed to take Mr Ali
to the far reaches of insanity doing stupid things. It alway ended up with you, Kez or Brolly
getting sent out and receiving detention, all because Science was an opportunity to doss.

Probably the last time we all got together was when we had a massive sleepover at yours, we all
found room to sleep on the floor but Brolly being Brolly slept in the cupboard.

When we arrive at the gates of heaven we'll help you with your imaginative schemes and hotwire
Graham's car so you can jump the gates.

See you at some wild house party in Heaven!!"



Safespace:
"Working at SafeSpace we come into a lot of contact with a lot of young people all of whom are
important in their own individual way but I have to say that Andy really made a special impact at
SafeSpace - on the staff and his fellow housemates - in many many ways.

The first time Andy came to stay at SafeSpace I can remember him clearly wearing his tracky and his
trademark baseball cap - which at that time, he would never, ever take off no matter what! That was
Andy, - the cheeky, headstrong, loveable rogue that we all came to know.

Andy loved his music it was a huge part of his life - whereever there was mcing and dance music
there was Andy - he loved everything that went with the image, the people, the culture - that was
Andy. He was forever on the computer listening to his music, adding to his Bebo page and other
website pages, bigging himself and AJ up or chatting to anyone and everyone on MSN.

Andy was a great resident at SafeSpace - yes he broke rules (quite a few in fact) but he was a joy
to be around at SafeSpace and I think he enjoyed being at SafeSpace. He was always willing to get
involved in activities in and out of the project from a quick game of footy down the park, to
canoeing, sailing, climbing, archery, cookery (he could make a mean curry!) and snowboarding which
unfortunately ended up with a trip to Bury hospital (but that's another story!). He was a great team
player who loved to meet people and anyone who had the opportunity to meet soon found him to be a
great friend.

Andy always kept us entertained with his stories, plans and choices in life. I had many a great
conversation with him about anything and everything - from life in general to parenthood to going
out clubbing to noodles! All the staff were more than willing to offer and give him support whenever
he wanted or need it and they had all the time in the world for him. He was a very fair, respectful,
and loving young man.

Andy knew his mum loved him dearly, and he clearly loved her and of course he loved his precious son
AJ. AJ was his life, he loved to talk about him, show us photos of him and spend time with him. He
was a proud father and we know that he saw AJ as one of his greatest achievements in his life.

Andy stayed with us at SafeSpace twice and we wish there could have been a third time because we
would have given him that chance because he deserved it. In such a short life he experienced so much
but we wish it could have been more.

We miss you Andy.

You will never be forgotten."

I like to thank everyone who has offered their support and left tributes and candles for Andrew, my
love and thoughts are with all of you xxx