Chorley nursery unveil memorial bench in honour of two-year-old who lost Leukaemia battle

Little Rory Harty, who attended the Whittle-le-Woods nursery, passed away in December last year.

The nursery held a Derian House Day on Wednesday, May 11 and raised £3,339.53 - proceeds from raffles, auctioning a diamond ring and overnight hotel stays.

Victoria Hoole who works at the nursery said: "The day was to raise awareness for Derian House and the special work they do.

"Rory was a bubbly outgoing little boy who loved football, cars and anything messy. He was a little chatterbox and had the strongest Chorley accent that any two-year old has ever had.

"He became very poorly and was diagnosed with Leukaemia. Whilst he was being cared for in Manchester Children’s Hospital, the Future Champions nurseries held a fundraiser to raise money for the hospital.

"Rory very sadly passed away in December and Derian House supported the family during this tremendously difficult time.

"Future Champions wanted to show their support for this amazing cause and do some further fundraising for the hospice. We recently held a bake sale and asked the children and their families for donations, raising a further £850 for such a worthy cause."

She added: "Rory’s parents kindly donated a bench to the nursery to honour Rory and during the fundraiser the bench was officially opened by Rory’s proud big brother Noah.

“The bench sits proudly at the front of nursery and the nursery remember Rory each and everyday.”

Naomi Jones assistant manager added that Rory was “forever a future champion.”