Erin Thompson, aged nine, in her famous yellow wellies
With a passion for farm safety, seven-year-old Erin Thompson began writing a short story titled The Girl in the Yellow Wellies stays safe on the farm, with the help of her mum, Laura Thompson, to create a book which focuses on farm safety.
Living on a farm in Cumbria across from her grandparents, Laura said from a young age ‘Erin has wanted to run across the yard to see them and with tractors and heavy machinery about we constantly taught her how to keep safe. Our house also backs onto a stream, so Erin has always been aware of water safety too.'
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"When my niece and nephew visited, we were constantly reminding them. It was harder to get them to understand and so we began developing the book as an aid," Laura said.
"With agriculture being one of the most dangerous industries to live and work in, I think we need to begin addressing cultural change from a young age. The book seemed the perfect way to do this.
"The story came about after a brainstorming session where Erin wrote every danger she knew about and how to keep safe from it and started her drawings.
"Erin likes rhymes and poems, so we looked to make it a rhyming story. This developed over a few months until we had a structure and all the drawings complete".
Erin then created a second titled The Girl in the Yellow Wellies stays safe walking in the countryside, which she produced by herself.
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Following the creation of both, they had several books printed to give out to family and friends, and Erin began selling them in an honesty box at the end of their lane, where she also sells her hens' eggs and vegetables, and at their local pub, The Countryman. Erin donated all the money made from the sales to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) and Mountain Rescue, as well as donating copies of the walking book to local schools.
But the success of her stories did not stop there. In May 2024 the Institution of Agricultural Engineering (IAE) reached out to the family and sponsored the printing of £250 worth of books, and The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society also got in touch and during the Royal Welsh Show gave out free copies to children participating in the young handlers' competitions. Erin even sent copies of her books to King Charles and Jeremy Clarkson, both of whom praised her creations.
"We still have many copies left to reach more children and they are going to be handed out to young handlers at the Cockermouth Agricultural Show in Cumbria this coming weekend," said Laura. "We are so extremely grateful to the IAE for making it possible to start reaching more children as this message is so crucial."
"We still have a number of books to donate to children and would welcome any suggestions for doing this."
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