Diane and Natty's Story

Diane and Natty Cash are mother and daughter from Great Barr and West Bromwich. Both are members of RoadPeace West Midlands and joined after suffering a double tragedy within their family.

In June 1993, Diane's nephew, James, who was very close with his cousin, Natty, died in a car crash aged 17, only 6 weeks after passing his driving test. James was an inexperienced driver, on a country lane with 3 teenage passengers at the time of the crash. James died instantly, leaving his family and friends completely devastated. Natty remembers James as having piercing blue eyes, he was the baby of the family and adored. As he became a teenager, he was a keen athlete and runner, he became a member of the Tipton Harriers Athletic Club and had a very promising future ahead of him.

In 2019, Diane's partner of over 20 years and Natty's stepdad, Barry Middlebrook, known as 'Baz' to family and friends was killed while riding his motorbike, aged 61. He was riding home from work when he came to a new road layout, which unknown to him was being campaigned about. His bike slipped on loose gravel left behind after bollards were fitted, he went under the wheels of a 41-ton lorry and was killed instantly. The driver left the scene unaware of the tragic and devastating scene unfolding behind him. Baz's family were all left in shock and totally grief-stricken. Baz was a funny and charming character who was very hardworking and generous to all. He travelled the world with Diane and when at home in their bungalow, loved his garden which was full of parakeets. He loved cooking, he was king of the BBQ, making sure everyone felt welcome at his garden parties and left well-fed.

Diane was totally devastated following Baz's death and became unable to cope with even basic tasks. Natty tried desperately to find the right support for her mom, eventually finding RoadPeace. At RoadPeace West Midlands, Diane and Natty met with like-minded people who understood the total devastation of losing someone in such an instant and violent way. RoadPeace West Midlands have become a family to Natty and Diane and kept them going at times indescribable inner grief, they feel they have made wonderful friends for life. RoadPeace is a safe place where they can laugh, talk and cry with others.

We have zero tolerance to road incidents.

So what are we doing about it? We are taking action to tackle dangerous and anti-social driving and removing unsafe vehicles from the road. This will range from uninsured drivers, street cruising, dangerous driving and road racing. 

You said it, we did it. See our action plan here:

If you'd like to know more about RoadPeace, visit the website here.

Natty's Story

See Natty's story, member of RoadPeace.

Diane's Story

See Diane's story, member of RoadPeace.