HUNDREDS of people have gathered in Longlevens to celebrate the life of popular Gloucester hairdresser Hollie Gazzard.
Hollie's family invited the community to a party at the King Edward VII pub to mark what would have recently been her 21st birthday.
The two-day shindig was held both to mark Hollie's milestone birthday – which she would have celebrated on Thursday, July 24 – and to thank hundreds of people across the city for their support since she was callously murdered while she worked at Fringe Benefits and La Bella Beauty salon on February 18.
Father Nick said around 400 people attended the pub today while tens more also enjoyed a day of music yesterday.
"It has been fastastic," said Mr Gazzard. "I would say there was around 400 people here which typifies the support of Gloucester people.
"As a family, it has been very important we pay people back by holding a party for Hollie's 21st.
"Over the weekend we have raised about £5,000 but this is not about fundraising, it's about celebrating Hollie's life and opening that up to the people of Gloucester who have been very supportive."
The event saw live music, a barbecue, pub games, raffle, auctions and other entertainment from a magician yesterday.
The sun shone on the pub's beer garden this afternoon which saw the event adopt a more family-orientated theme, with face painting and more for children.
The Hollie Gazzard Trust has raised more than £30,000 to support its aims of not only paying for a hairdresser training, but to support anti-knife crime charities while raising awareness of domestic abuse.
Mr Gazzard said due to the level of support the charity has received it will be sponsoring six new hairdressers from September – instead of only one as originally envisaged.
He said: "We are also pursuing the aim of getting domestic abuse awareness on the school curriculum."
The family recently featured alongside Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on ITV's This Morning to raise awareness of the trust.
Hollie's Ex-boyfriend Asher Maslin, 22, from Cheltenham, has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for stabbing the beautiful redhead at her workplace.
The former Churchdown School pupil, who has nine previous convictions, stabbed Hollie 14 times.
