A tribute to a little boy who died of cancer now has a new, poignant partnership.

Work on Bridport Town Council's 'community project of the year' at Bridport Primary School has been largely completed as pupils return to school today (Monday, September 6).

Branden's Trail, a partnership project with Bridport Young Persons' Action trust (BYPAT) charity, is restoring a memorial to five-year-old Branden Wayland, who died of cancer, whilst also creating a calm and friendly refuge for any child in need of support and reassurance.

The project has received support from across the community, from both individuals and organisations - Bridport Rotary Club, Bridport Lions Club, Brit Valley Rotary Club, the Friends of Bridport Primary, Bridport Town Council, West Bay Car Boot Fund, Waitrose Community Fund and BYPAT itself have all contributed funding.

The partnership to bring the project to fruition, in which BYPAT and the town council have been joined by Bridport Gardening Club and Bridport Arts Centre, now includes a more distant organisation.

'Green Legacy Hiroshima' aims to share with others the seeds of trees thought to have been destroyed by the bombing in 1945. When, against all expectations, these trees began to show signs of life, they gave hope for life to many who were suffering. Green Legacy has partners in 36 countries worldwide, with 10 partners in the UK, and the 11th will be Branden's Trail.

BYPAT's Arthur Woodgate said: "Our Japanese exchange programme with Tokyo's Koyamadai Educational Foundation has enabled over a hundred young people from the local area to experience what so many have described as 'the opportunity of a lifetime'. In Japan, this included visits to Hiroshima and it was impossible not to be deeply moved by what we saw and what we learned."

As one member of the exchange wrote upon her return to Bridport: "Going to Hiroshima was the best part of the programme. In the centre of the Peace Park was the domed building that I had seen in history textbooks. It was very strange to see it and also very moving. We explored the museum, which gave a very unbiased story about that fateful day. Something I found strange was that the Japanese people showed no resentment about the things that had happened, for which I admire them greatly."

An application was made for seeds, supported in Japan by the charity's good friends Shiro Yonekura and Hiroki Suzuki.

BYPAT trustees Martin and Maggie Ray said: "We found the linkage between Hiroshima Green Legacy and Branden's Trail to be very poignant - the re-birth of life after disaster, and the quiet remembrance of a life cut short bringing hope and refuge to other young lives."

Nassrine Azimi, co-founder of Green Legacy Hiroshima, agreed and said: "Whilst we send seeds mainly to botanical gardens, universities or symbolic sites, we think the initiative you have in mind is so meaningful and symbolic."

Thanks to help from David Dowd, senior lecturer at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise in Greenmount, Northern Ireland, seeds from two trees that survived the bombing of Hiroshima will soon be on their way to Bridport, with long-term care pledged by Bridport town surveyor, Daryl Chambers.

To find out more, email [email protected]

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