ON a day when they should have been celebrating Jayden Parkinson’s 18th birthday, friends and family of the Didcot teenager gathered for a festival in her memory.

The memorial and fundraiser at the Wheatsheaf pub, in Wantage Road, yesterday saw balloons released into the sky at 5.56pm, the moment Jayden was born 18 years ago.

The event also raised money for the domestic abuse charity, Jayden’s Gift, which was set up to give extra support to victims.

The charity has raised £3,000 so far and needs another £2,000 to be able to register as an official charity.

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Jayden’s mother, Sam Shrewsbury, said she also wants to use the charity to campaign for a change in the way the law treats teenagers who may be in abusive relationships.

Jayden was killed by her ex-boyfriend Ben Blakeley in a field south of Didcot in December.

It is thought he strangled her after she told him she was pregnant with his child.

Miss Shrewsbury, 47, said she organised the event because she had promised to take her daughter to a festival when she turned 18.

She told the Oxford Mail: “Obviously that’s not going to happen so I decided to throw a birthday party to remember her.”

Jayden’s grandfather Eric Shrewsbury said: “After yesterday laying the headstone it’s been an emotional couple of days at the end of an emotional 10 months.

Oxford Mail:

  • Mum Sam reflects on a picture of Jayden

“We had a memorial in Didcot’s All Saints Church and we had a big turnout and then the funeral in Folkestone. It’s wonderful to know there are so many good people out there, particularly people in Didcot who have been very supportive.

“The reason for doing this, even though it is so soon after, is that her mother promised her that she would take her to a festival so we are trying to combine the two in her memory.”

Her cousin Jess Bond, from Folkestone, said: “I used to babysit her. I was her best little mate.

“She never shut up, she was so inquisitive, she was always wanting answers to questions.

“She was never a terror, even when she was small. She was an angel.

“It is an honour to celebrate her life and her birthday. If she was still alive we would have been here doing a party. We wanted to celebrate her life.”

Oxford Mail:

  • The sign made by family and friends for her birthday

Miss Shrewsbury added: “Today is helping. I think things I throw myself into like the charity work will help a little towards patching up what’s left behind.

“I have been dreading today because I thought I would be in bits because I can remember moment for moment since she was born and I will never see her again. But it is not as bad as I expected.

“I am proud and I hope she is proud of the community coming together to support her and have a shindig.

“It is heartening to know that people out there are prepared to put their hands in their pockets and help.”

 

 

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