Garden grows for tragic teen

TRIBUTE . . . Alex Carter

A MEMORIAL garden has been created as a tribute to the community work of a popular teenager who died aged 17.

The Alex Carter Memorial Garden wil be officially opened at Fitton Hill Neighbourhood Centre tomorrow. Alex died in January 2011 after collapsing at his home in McDonough Close, Hathershaw, only days after his 17th birthday.

He was much liked for his work with Fitton Hill Youth Centre, Fitton Hill Bulldogs and the Eden Project, and for helping neighbours and volunteering locally.

The community was so affected by Alex’s death that volunteers of all ages have transformed what was once an unused patch of land into a garden dedicated to his memory.

Alex’s grandfather Wilfred Ratcliffe will cut the ribbon at the ceremony, which will be attended by the teenager’s family and friends and the Mayor, Councillor John Hudson.