The legacy of a brave two-year-old Sutton youngster is living on in a school playground thanks to the generosity of his family and the local community.

Children of Leamington Primary Academy returned to the Sutton school in September to a great surprise in their playground — a massive fort structure.

It was bought by the academy using a major donation from the family of Dawson Willcock.

Dawson died in 2017 from a rare cancer, but not before he touched the hearts of the whole community for his bravery and smiles.

Following a huge fundraising effort for specialist treatment in America, his family were given the tragic news that it could not save Dawson.

The family have since used the money raised to give back to the community who provided support to the family in their time of need.

Dawson’s parents, Wendy Hinchcliffe and David Willcock, went to Leamington Primary with members of their family on the first day of the new term to officially open ‘Dawson’s Fort’, a magnificent playground installation for children of the school to use during playtimes and lessons.

Wendy said: “When we needed our community to rally around us to try to save Dawson, parents, strangers, and everyone in Leamington and further afield really supported and backed us, and we just wanted to give something back.

“It would have been lovely if we could have done this for all of the schools who supported and fundraised for us, but this was the school that had the connection for us. My children came here, and Dawson would also have come here. I think he would have loved it.

“Dawson had a rare cancer He had a one in a million chance of getting it and a nine out of 10 survival chance. But when there is a nine out of 10 chance, there is always the one out of 10! He was two years and two months when he died. He would be seven now and would have been at this school.

“Dawson was known for his infectious smile, and laugh. He was always smiling. David and I both feel that Dawson would have been the type of child who would always have been smiling at school and we believe would have been able to make other children smile, and that is the reason behind the phrase on the plaque on the fort — ‘If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours’ Dawson Willcock 20/09/15 – 24/11/17.

David added: “We hope that the fort makes children smile and enjoy themselves.”

Pupil Aaron Widdowson, 10, said: “All the children will really enjoy using it and all of us want to say thank you to Dawson’s family. They donated such a lot of money, and we will always be able to remember Dawson every time we use the fort.”

The fort cost more than £44,000 and Dawson’s family donated around £38,000 with the academy paying the rest.

Head teacher Kaye McGuire said: “This gesture has touched the hearts of everyone at the academy — staff, children and their families.

“Dawson’s Fort will provide not only fun and laughter for our children, and a fantastic outdoor learning space, but will remind us of Dawson for generations to come. We want to thank the family for this wonderful gift

“We will cherish the beautiful words, and will honour those words by sharing our smiles in his memory.”