Chris Maslin Memorial, held in memory of Grantham teenager who died aged 19, returns for third year

A teenager who died after ‘experimenting with drugs’ will be remembered at a car and bike rally.

The Chris Maslin Memorial Rally will be held from Friday, October 11, until Sunday, October 13, at Grantham Cricket Club in Gorse Lane.

This is the third event to be held in memory of Chris, who died in 2020 aged 19.

This year’s event is about “coming together as a community and celebrating our young people,” said Amanda Maslin, Chris’s mum.

Alongside a weekend of the car and bike rally, monster trucks and race trucks on show, Saturday will be a day full of music as ‘ChrisFest’ takes place. And to finish on Sunday, it will be a family fun day, full of trade stalls, a craft fair, more monster trucks, fair rides and more local entertainment.

Amanda added: “Since we started, the event has really built up.

“We have mostly the same as last year, but we have a full blown music festival on the Saturday including the UK’s number one U2 tribute band, St John’s Choir and other local music talent.

“Sunday is very much about the community and that is what is different this year.”

The three-day event will be raising money for several charities, including the RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Shelter, Grantham and District Scouts and The Daniel Spargo-Mabbs (DSM) Foundation.

The DSM Foundation is a drug and alcohol education charity, set up by Tim and Fiona Spargo-Mabbs in memory of their son Daniel, who died aged 16 after taking ecstasy.

Amanda said: “The DSM Foundation works with young people, parents and teachers to educate them about the dangers and realities of drugs, which is very much what we want to promote.

“Unfortunately, we all have this need to give into peer pressure sometimes and maybe if Chris took that step back and didn’t get lost in the moment, things may be different today.

“If we can put that message across to others, we want to do that.

“My daughter suggested raising money for the RSPCA, which we had two dogs from.

“Chris was autistic and he found it really difficult to show affection.

“However, with the dogs he was really different. He would not leave the house without saying he loved them and would always show them affection.

“And for the scouts, we are raising money for a fund that can help scouts to go on trips who maybe can’t afford to go on them.”

Although the event is celebrating Chris’s life, Amanda hopes it will raise awareness about the dangers of drugs, as well as celebrate the community.

She added: “I hope parents will take a lot from the event and how they can protect young people and the conversations they can have with them.”

Tickets are still on sale at https://cmmrally.co.uk/buy-tickets.

Earlier this month, Amanda and Steve Maslin, Chris’s dad, donated a table tennis table to a Grantham ambulance crew that were there on the night Chris died.

Amanda wanted to donate a gift to the crew for their support towards her and her family.

She said: “On the fateful night we lost Christopher, there was one team that went above and beyond.

“The ambulance crew were quick to respond and tried for an hour to save our Christopher.

“When I arrived on the scene, they supported me in every way they could.

“I will forever be grateful for everything they did that night. They have to deal with a lot of difficult cases on a day-to-day basis, so we hope the table will create a safe space for them to enjoy some downtime.”