The parents of murdered student Molly McLaren said she would be proud of the work they have done in her memory.

The 23-year-old was killed by her ex-boyfriend Joshua Stimpson in June 2017 as she sat in her car at Dockside Outlet shopping centre, in Chatham.

He was found guilty of her murder the next year and jailed for life with a minimum term of 26 years.

Following her death, family and friends set up The Molly McLaren Foundation to help people with eating disorders, aiming to continue the work Molly had started.

The University of Kent student suffered from bulimia and had been writing a blog to share her experiences with others.

She wanted to encourage positive thoughts on body image and a more holistic way of living.

Speaking at the time, Molly’s best friend and former work colleague, Amy Lee, said: “She wanted to start something.

“She had a blog and wanted to raise awareness, and because she cannot, we now have to.

“It is what she would have wanted and it is a great cause.”

The organisation originally started as a JustGiving page raising more than £15,000 to support people with eating disorders.

Following its success, her friends and family wanted to keep the momentum going and registered The Molly McLaren Foundation with the charity commission to keep her memory alive.

However, after six years, the foundation’s trustees have decided to shut it down.

Speaking to KentOnline, Molly’s dad Doug McLaren said they never expected it to be so successful.

The 68-year-old added: “The foundation was founded after we lost our daughter and since then it has gone from strength to strength.

“It was set up when the loss was still quite raw. We thought we had to do something that deflected from the tragedy that it was.

“We had something taken but we gave something back. Molly was taken but we tried our best to turn a negative into a positive.

“If you had said we would help so many people I would not have believed it but we did. It blossomed and pulled through.

“Molly was a darling, a real asset to the family. She was a real pearl.

“She would be chuffed, properly chuffed at what we have done.”

The organisation teamed up with Maidstone-based charity ReWrite Your Story which specialises in providing one-to-one counselling for people struggling with their mental health.

It has raised around £100,000 which has been donated helping more than 30 people receive 30 weeks of specialised counselling.

Throughout the years, the trustees have also campaigned for specialist help for eating disorders and called for a unit to be set up in Kent.

It has also funded school training to educate teachers on spotting the first signs and supporting youngsters and funded active communication with GPs so people can receive support earlier.

Doug, of Lawerence Drive, Cobham, near Gravesend, added: “Molly suffered from bulimia so it was a chance to hone in on that as the focal point for the charity.

“We like to think we have made a real difference. It has been rewarding.

“When we set up the charity we had to send a mission statement and looking back we are confident we have achieved what we said we would do.”

The McLaren family has now decided to close the foundation this year and will be hosting its last MollyFest today (May 25) - its annual music fundraising event.

Doug, who is now retired, said this “will be the last hurrah”. He added: “It will be the end of an era.

“It is bittersweet. It is sad that it is the last one, but we can look back and say, hand on heart, we have done good work.

“In the early days, the charity raised a lot of money. We had people kayak across the English Channel and a young family member jumped out of a plane.

“People stepped up and wanted to help and we are grateful for it.

“However, now the income is not there so the logical thing is to draw a line under it.

“Thank you to everyone who has supported the charity. Any money you have given has been put to good use and a good cause.”

Molly went to Mayfield Grammar School in Gravesend and North Kent College in Dartford.