Sheffield baby pays tribute to the gran she never met - after Facebook post reveals festive tree tradition friends kept going for a decade

This is the heart-warming moment a Sheffield baby was able to pay touching tribute – to the grandmother she never met.
Gavin Douglas visits the festive tree decorated in memory of his mum Ali, with fiancee Ashleigh Harris and daughter MylaGavin Douglas visits the festive tree decorated in memory of his mum Ali, with fiancee Ashleigh Harris and daughter Myla
Gavin Douglas visits the festive tree decorated in memory of his mum Ali, with fiancee Ashleigh Harris and daughter Myla

Myla Douglas, aged one, was born eight years after her grandmother Ali Douglas died suddenly of a brain tumour diagnosed following a cycling fall in 2010.

Ali had been placing baubles on the tree, located in the Whiteley Woods Trail off Woodcliffe, below Ringinglow, to commemorate World Aids Day in December.

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Friends carried on the tradition in honour of the 64-year-old, but it was only a chance social media post about the tree on Facebook group Friends of Sheffield 11 that alerted Ali’s son Gavin Douglas that it even existed.

Now Gavin has visited with fiancée Ashleigh Harris to lay their own tribute with decorations, including a teddy bear bauble from Myla.

“It’s fabulous” said 39-year-old Gavin, who runs a painting and decorating firm and lives in Greystones.

“My mum was always described as being at the centre of the community bringing people together and this tree is a perfect symbol of that.

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“She started all this and now lots of people have come from all over to hang decorations on the tree in memory of their loved ones. It’s great to be able to carry on that tradition with her grandaughter, my daughter Myla, because she reminds me of mum sometimes.

“It’s beautiful – it shows you the circle of life.”

Gavin encouraged people to use the tree, on a popular walking trail, part of the Sheffield Round Walk, to hang decorations in memory of their loved ones at Christmas.

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