“It was Momentum who told me about the idea of setting up a tribute page in Andrew’s memory and we thought it was a lovely way to celebrate Andrew’s life. Memories from before Andrew was unwell are a bit fuzzy for me, it’s difficult to forget all the painful memories from his treatment and just remember the many good times that came before.

Creating the page brought me a lot of joy, as it felt like I was making a story about Andrew for other people to look at and read, which I found very comforting. It was an opportunity to bring those happier memories back to the forefront of my thoughts and help me focus on our time together.

We took lots of videos of Andrew and it is really nice that we can share these on the page.

Every time we do something in Andrew’s memory, or raise some money, the page is updated. It’s great to see how much we have raised over the years. Sometimes people choose to make a donation at Christmas, or on Andrew’s birthday. At any time, people can click on and donate, and the money goes to Momentum so they can continue the amazing work they do.

It’s nearly six years since Andrew died, and we remember him every single day. We visit Andrew’s tree at Wakehurst, which is very close to where we live. It’s a really special place as we have so many happy memories of the boys there.

My dad recently turned 80, and the main thing he wanted to do was to be with Andrew at his tree. Lots of people visit the tree and hang different things on it, including beautiful decorations made by one of my ex-colleagues and some lovely wooden animals which my dad made to go under the tree. My dad isn’t a carpenter by trade, but he’s very good at it. Dad sought support from the Time to Talk mental health initiative when he was really struggling after Andrew died. Wood turning is what he does when he needs to relax, clear his head, and give himself some space.

I absolutely love baking and visiting tea gardens, and Andrew and I used to really enjoy going for Afternoon Tea together. Years ago, I used to host tea parties for a breast cancer charity, but after Andrew passed away, our focus became raising money for Momentum. The Afternoon Tea party for Momentum has now been an annual event in our garden since 2023, and between 30-40 people attend.  So far, we have raised around £2,000 just from this event, and we have added this to Andrew’s page – it is important to us to be able to keep Andrew’s page up-to-date and active.

I work at Wakehurst, and every year we hold an annual stoolball tournament which Andrew used to absolutely love playing in. This year, the tournament has a brand-new trophy called ‘The Andrew Smith Trophy’, which is another lovely way for everyone to remember him.

We will never forget Andrew and hopefully other people won’t either, as they can still look at things like his tribute page. You can add little meaningful quotes and sometimes it feels like I am communicating these to Andrew.

When people visit Andrew’s tribute page, I want them to know what an incredible boy he was, to tell them about all the things he achieved and to know how much we love him.

I don’t always use Andrew’s tribute page as much as I’d like to, but my other son, Thomas, is now a Young Ambassador for Momentum so I’d like to share this news on Andrew’s page – I know everyone, including Andrew, is incredibly proud of Thomas.”

Find out more about setting up a Precious Moments Tribute Page here