'We want to carry on Bebe's light and big heart'

The mother of Bebe King, who was killed in the Southport knife attacks, has said her daughter had the "biggest heart" and she wanted to "carry on her light" by providing grief support for children.

Bebe, six, Alice Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop last July.

Bebe's parents have launched Bebe's Hive to provide creative sessions using art, music and storytelling to help bereaved children.

Her mum, Lauren King, told BBC Breakfast: "Bebe was so full of joy and had the biggest heart".

Mrs King added: "She was very caring and creative, and we want to carry on her light and we want to do that with Bebe's Hive."

She said she had "turned to creativity" in her own grief and she wanted to offer that to children in the community who had lost loved ones.

Setting up Bebe's Hive was "a way to concentrate on the beautiful personalities" of children, she said.

"Bebe's with me all the time, but everything we put into Bebe's Hive – it's got Bebe at the forefront – it carries me."

Mrs King said the project to "offer support to grieving children" was "very special to us".

She added: "We always associated the bee with Bebe even before she was born.

"Hives are extremely nurturing. They are a community and look out for each other.

"That's something that's really important to us and we want to provide for the children of Southport."

Mrs King said bees were like Bebe as "they are very cheeky, very sweet and they dance to communicate" and "Bebe definitely did a lot of dancing".

Bebe's godmother Steph praised the support from the Southport community that has meant so much to the family.

She said: "We have all really supported each other.

"The community in Southport has been just unbelievable.

"The amount of support that they have given us has got us through. It's extremely special."

The families of the three murdered schoolgirls demanded "real change" as the public inquiry into the stabbings started.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the inquiry in April and said it would work for the families "to quickly understand what went wrong, answer difficult questions and do everything in our power to prevent something like this from happening again".

The inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall opened with evidence from some of the victims' families.

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