An annual charity race held in honour of a woman murdered in a Glasgow park has had an eleventh hour reprieve after funding was withdrawn.
Next month will mark the ninth year of Moira's Run in Queen's Park, an event designed to raise money for The Moira Fund, founded in the wake of the rape and murder of Moira Jones.
Now a milestone event in the Glasgow race calendar, the future of the run was in question after the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit said it would no longer support the fundraiser.
READ MORE: Mother of Moira Jones speaks of the days following her daughter's murder
However, Victim Support Scotland (VSS) has now stepped into the breach with financial support for this year and next.
Founder of The Moira Fund, and Moira's mother, Bea Jones said the charity was "hugely grateful for the wonderful support" of the Scottish VRU but is "so thankful" to VSS for taking over.
It had been feared the run would move to "virtual only" rather than being held in Queen's Park where the charity "strongly feel it belongs".
Kate Wallace, Chief Executive of Victim Support Scotland said: "VSS has a long-standing relationship with the Moira Fund.
"It was through them that we established our Supporting Families Bereaved by Crime Service, and so it seemed natural for us to cement that by sponsoring the Moira Run.
"We share the values, ethos and dedication to supporting people when faced with the most difficult times in their lives.
"VSS is grateful to the Moira Fund for their support with our Support for Families Bereaved by Crime Service – a specialist service for people affected by murder or culpable homicide.
"Bea’s commitment, energy and compassion is an inspiration to me and the families we support."
Part of the ethos of the race is to reclaim the park following the brutal assault and death of Moira, a businesswoman who had lived opposite the south side greenspace.
In light of the withdrawal of financial support from the Scottish VRU, a statement from The Moira Fund read: "It is anticipated that this may well be the last Moira’s Run in Queen's Park, Glasgow, and we may have to consider moving to a virtual event only next year.
"Moira’s Run has been hugely popular with the people of Glasgow, and it’s also been extensively supported by those travelling from afar.
"We have so appreciated that and we don’t want it to be any different because this, our tribute to Moira, has meant so much to so many - the local south side community, those families who have lost a loved one through murder, the hundreds participating, our many supporters, and to each and every one of us at The Moira Fund."
Hundreds of runners take part in the 5k race each year, coming from across the UK and also taking part in remote runs as far afield as Greece, Canada and the USA.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit said: "We have been pleased to assist Moira’s Run since 2014 with both funding and staff support.
READ MORE: Bea Jones on Moira, founding her charity and life after murder
"At the start of this year we confirmed with race organisers The Moira Fund that due to cost and resource pressures, which are being felt across the public sector, we would unfortunately be unable to provide any further funding for this event.
"We hope this now well established run continues to go from strength to strength."
In 2008 Moira, who was 40, was returning from visiting her partner when she was abducted just yards from her flat and forced into the park at knifepoint.
She was raped and suffocated in a sustained attack that left her with more than 65 injuries. Her killer, a Slovakian national, was moved back to Slovakia to serve the rest of a life sentence.
Mrs Jones, and her husband Hu, went on to set up The Moira Fund in their daughter's memory, helping other families who have been bereaved by murder.
A grant-making charity, The Moira Fund has helped more than 1000 families across the UK by giving funds to help with everything from funeral costs to clothes for attending court and essentials for children's bedrooms when they move to kinship care following the loss of a parent.
The Moira Fund is also hosting its annual Ladies Luncheon on October 8 to raise funds for the charity.
It will take place in Glasgow's Grand Central Hotel and will be hosted by the comedian Janey Godley.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here