When one little boy shared his support for front line workers battling Covid-19 with his colourful pebble decorations, his family never dreamed what a special place it would become.

Logan Melton is the two-year-old behind a note which was left tied to a tree in Taddington Woods, Chatham, asking people to design a pebble in honour of the NHS.

Logan's mum Danea, an officer with Kent Police, said: "Logan has always loved playing with stones in the back garden.

"During lockdown we were decorating some pebbles and came up with the idea to leave them at the tree in the woods, to spread happiness to those walking past."

Logan, his nine-month-old brother, Nate, and Danea have been living away from the family home since lockdown began, away from dad and husband Robert.

Robert is part of the Met Police force, a key worker on the front line during the coronavirus pandemic. The family made the difficult decision to self-isolate from each other.

Danea and the children moved to Logan's nan and grandad's house, and although the property isn't far from their own home, the family haven't been able to hug one another since Monday, March 23.

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Robert said: "As a frontline Metropolitan police officer, my wife and I made the very difficult decision when lockdown was announced to live separately to minimise the potential effects and risks of Covid-19 transmission.

"I’ve been walking down the wood regularly to see the pebble collection grow in size and have been amazed by the response Logan’s little note has received.

"Logan walks down every day, seeking for newly-laid pebbles.

"It has been a particularly tough six weeks for me – being separated from my children and only seeing them through social distancing – so to see people's reactions to Logan's tree really touched me."

The chosen tree for Logan's idea was originally picked by his nan, Shirley Charleston.

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Danea said: "The tree is about a 10 minute walk from my parents' house and right by the pathway. It's easily visible to everyone who walks past.

"When we first dropped the note and stone off, I didn't really expect to see anything come from it.

"Over the next three or four days there wasn't really any involvement, but when we went back to the tree later that week a number of beautifully decorated stones had been placed by Logan's.

"It's been so lovely to see the collection grow over the past few weeks, everything from stickers, stones, woodwork and notes have been left in thanks to the key workers during this hard time.

"It really has become Logan's tree. With our family being separated and the kids not seeing their dad, the tree has become a meet-up place where Logan can run around with his dad, social distancing still at play.

"It means so much to us that Logan's little note has brought the community together in such hard times."

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Logan's half-sister, Ella, 17, is also incredibly proud of the community spirit he has managed to create.

She said: "I just wanted to express how proud I am of Logan. When I heard that he had put the painted rock and note in the tree I thought it was such a lovely tribute to the NHS.

"He has made me the proudest sister, and he’s such an inspiration for so many other children, like his younger step-brother Jack, my brother.

"He has brought the whole community together by doing this amazing gesture to support our health care system and I’m lost for words at how heart warming it is."
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