The event takes place after a service in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral organised by Merseyside Support After Manslaughter and Murder (SAMM).

People who have had a traumatic experience of crime were being invited to release a balloon.

John Sandwell, development officer of Merseyside SAMM said the balloons were a sign of releasing trauma.

The event is taking place on European Victims Day.

Among those taking part in the service are John Suffield, from Liverpool, who will read a reflection based on the experience of losing his son in a violent robbery on a betting shop 25 years ago.