Backwell mother Ruth Yard lost her only child Fergus to cancer when he was aged just 12.

She said: “Your worst fear after your child dies is that he'll be forgotten.”

They had long been searching for a tree with special meaning to plant in Fergus’ memory and to draw attention to all the children affected by childhood cancer.

The Sycamore Gap tree was cut down a year ago, sparking national outrage.

Now, Fergus' community will be one of the first to be gifted a sapling grown from it.

Stories of these first saplings to be promised are being shared to inspire others to apply for a ‘Tree of Hope’ from the National Trust.

They have now grown to about 5ft tall, the BBC discovered on a visit to the top-secret greenhouse where they are kept.

Fergus 'loved the outdoors' and was planning to walk Hadrian's wall with his dad

On a bank, overlooking an open green space, Fergus’ parents share the spot where his tree will go – a prominent place in the landscape.

Their son came to this recreational ground nearly every day – a boy, on the cusp of becoming a teenager, who had a love of the outdoors.

It was his walk to school. He played cricket and other games here with his dad Ian, who described it as place filled with 'fun'.

Father and son were planning to walk Hadrian’s Wall, along which the Sycamore Gap tree was nestled.

They postponed because of the pandemic with the hope of visiting once life went back to ‘normal’.

But Fergus was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in January 2021 and was just 12 years old when he died in May 2022.

Fergus' parents Ruth and Ian have chosen a prominent spot in Fergus' local park for the special sapling to be planted

Two years on, his mum Ruth contacted the National Trust after hearing about the seedlings and grafts successfully grown from seeds and young twigs rescued from the felled tree.

“There's something about the story of the new life being created from the Sycamore Gap.

"It made me think of all the children affected by childhood cancer. And how they deserve so much better. They deserve a second chance of life.”

A Sycamore Gap sapling seemed a fitting tribute as it was the trip planned, but never taken.

Since Fergus died, nature has been a constant source of strength to the family, Ruth tells me: “Its power to regenerate. And to console.”

She stresses that cancer in children is 'horrendous, brutal and life-changing' and that bone cancer in children is something 'no one really talks about'.

"We need to do more. We need to know more."So her hope for the tree is to draw attention to the challenges these children face.