School garden built in young pupil's memory

A new school garden has been created in memory of a five-year-old pupil who died from a brain tumour last year.

St Mary's Church of England Primary School in Writhlington, near Radstock, has held various fundraising events to raise enough money to build the garden after Elias died.

The school said it is a space for pupils and staff to remember Elias, but also for children to remember the people they have lost in their own families.

Trees, plants, flower beds and a wooden train have been provided, with parents and grandparents volunteering to look after the space, which is something Elias' dad Jake said reminded them that in the "worst time of our life, there is good in the world".

Head teacher, Cathie Lampert, said she felt that as a school community they "needed a place to come and be a little bit quiet and to remember and reflect".

She said the garden is a place to "come and think about those who we have lost".

Elias's sister, Lola, has a lot of happy memories of her brother, including when they visited Disneyland.

She said she thought Elias would have "really liked" the garden, particularly "going on the train and on this bench because it says his name".

Elias was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma in April 2024, a rare brain tumour that mainly affects children.

He died a year later.

His parents have been fundraising over the last year, hoping to be able to keep Elias' memory alive, but Jake said finding out about the school's plans for the garden "meant more to us than you can imagine".

"It was just nice to know for us that there was a community of people that got together to help us", Jake added.

Elias's friend Braydon said that when he is in the garden, he carries a miniature photo album with images of him and Elias.

"He was my best friend, and we always loved him, and we played with him," he said.

Braydon's family, along with others, helped fundraise to build the garden by doing charity runs and penalty shootouts.

Braydon said when he was running, his heart "was beating for Elias".

Elias' mum, Abbie, said when people talk about her son, "it just brings us a bit of joy because we don't want him to be forgotten".

She said Elias was a "caring, cheeky, very loving boy, he had this beautiful nature about him".

Jake said school was one of Elias' favourite places, and it "just shows how special he was and how loved he was".

"Everybody just fell in love with him", he added.