A MUCH-LOVED Greenock man who dedicated his life to helping children is being poignantly remembered at the Inverclyde Music Festival.

Childcare worker Gary Greene brought joy to hundreds of nursery tots throughout Inverclyde.

But the 23-year-old sadly passed away just over two years ago, leaving his family, friends and work colleagues distraught.

As a touching tribute to Gary, staff and children at Binnie Street Children’s Centre, where he worked, donated a special trophy to the music festival in his memory.

His mum Barbara-Jane Woods was left overwhelmed by the nursery’s kind gesture and is comforted by the fact that Gary’s memory will live on at the festival.

She says it was an emotional moment to see tots from Binnie Street win Gary’s trophy at the festival on Friday.

Barbara-Jane of Quarrier Street, said: “What the nursery has done is absolutely beautiful, we can’t thank them enough.

“Gary loved the music festival, so it’s comforting to know that his memory will live on at the festival.

“In 10 years time, children will ask their teacher who Gary Greene is and they will be able to tell them.

“When we went to festival on Friday, we were treated like royalty as we were taken up to the balcony where seats were reserved for us, it was lovely.

“It was very emotional when Binnie Street won.

“Afterwards we met all the children, which was great ,and when they were leaving they were saying ‘bye Gary’s mum.”

Barbara-Jane said Gary loved his job so much that he always went above and beyond the call of duty.

She added: “Gary was born to be a nursery teacher, he just loved weans and they loved him.

“He was always taking money out of his own pocket to buy things like sand and toys for the nurseries.

“We are so proud of him.”

Gary, who attended King’s Oak Primary and Inverclyde Academy, worked at numerous nurseries throughout the area including Glenbrae Children’s Centre and Kelly Street Children’s Centre.

With his bubbly nature and great personality, his mum said he made friends wherever he went.

She added: “Everyone knew Gary.

“His funeral was so busy, nobody had seen anything like it.

“That is reflection of the impact he made on people’s lives.”

Gary’s auntie Val Clark also paid tribute to her nephew.

She added: “We’re so grateful to the nursery for creating this trophy in Gary’s memory and we were delighted when the children from Binnie Street won it.”

Louise Hampsey, who works at the nursery, said it was ‘very emotional’ when the tots won Gary’s trophy for their excellent performance of ‘Clap Your Hands and Follow Me’ in the singing games class.

She said: “Gary was a great, bubbly personality and all the children absolutely loved him.

“We were devastated when he died, so we decided to present a trophy to the music festival in memory of him.

“He was a festival in himself, so we thought it was a great tribute to him.

“When the children won the trophy this week it was a very emotional moment especially as his mum was there watching.

“We all had lumps in our throats.”

Gary is survived by his mum and three brothers Cody, Christopher and Scott.

They are keen to thank all their family and friends who have been a huge support, especially Linda Wilkie at Inverclyde Council who worked with Gary.