Friends and family of a young woman who was killed nearly two years ago are coming together to celebrate what would have been her 25th birthday.

Molly McLaren was murdered in June 2017 at Chatham Dockside. The Molly McLaren Foundation was set up in her memory to help people with eating disorders.

Last year, to mark her birthday, the foundation arranged a festival at the Leather Bottle in Cobham where Molly use to work.

The event raised £5,000 for the charity and it's happening again this year.

Molly's dad, Doug McLaren, said: "The charity is secondary to this event. It's all about Molly's friends and family coming together for an annual event that reinforces the person that she was.

"She was loved by so many and they will not forget her.

"It gives Joanne and I so much pleasure to see all the people from the village and indeed all over Kent and beyond who knew and loved Molly and who are prepared to come and stand shoulder to shoulder with us once again and not let Molly fade from our memories."

This year's event will be held on Saturday, May 25 from 2pm until 10pm with doors open at 1.30pm.

Rumblefish, Skatonics and Calli Malpas are among the performers and there will also be a hog roast, raffle and range of stalls.

Foundation trustee and friend of Molly and her family, Amy Lee, said: "We created Mollyfest to reinforce who she was as a person and to take a lot of things she enjoyed and put them together.

"Last year, we sold out more than 400 tickets in just one week. We use the money raised last year to help a charity that does counselling, therapy and early intervention schemes around the local community.

"Tickets are being sold on the door so more people can enjoy the day. There will be little surprises dotted around that weren't there last year too."

The charity the foundation support is called Rewrite Your Story who help people with eating disorders. The foundation has recently funded the first person through their counselling process.
They are also looking to work with charities that work with universities and schools to train them to spot the first signs of eating disorders.

Tickets for Mollyfest are £10 and under 5s go free.

For more information search The Molly McLaren Foundation on Facebook.