Women grief-stricken by the loss of family members to violence were urged to find strength in numbers at a community support event tonight.

Mothers on a Mission Bermuda will host the first open meeting of its kind and welcomed others with the message: “You’re not alone.”

The group was set up last year in a bid to help tackle the fallout from gun crime and violence on the island.

It was backed by the Government and was designed to provide a safe forum for women to express grief and speak to trained counsellors.

Mom Bermuda’s six core members meet weekly and wanted to provide an opportunity for more people to benefit from the support they receive.

Nicole Fox, whose son Ricco Furbert was shot dead in 2013, explained: “This meeting is for anyone, any female — mum, aunt, niece, grandmother, daughter — affected by the violence in Bermuda.

“It is very important — the support that you can have from other people, people going through the same trouble as you.”

Ms Fox said, as women: “We have this power in our home, and I know if we can’t heal, our homes can’t heal.

“So we’re starting from us. Let’s come together, let’s heal ourselves, so we can heal our community.

“Let’s live in peace, not in pieces, as our motto says.”

She was joined by Wayne Caines, the national security minister, who said the group was created by women who had suffered trauma.

He explained: “Not only were they able to get together but to give our community support in a myriad of different ways.”

Ceble Crockwell, the sister of Cup Match and Bermuda cricketer Fiqre Crockwell, who was shot dead in 2016, also urged women to attend the meeting.

She said: “I want you to know that you’re not alone in your struggle.

“Mom Bermuda, to me, is a family. We want to extend the assistance and the help that we get from the ministry and from other members of the support group to yourselves.

“Mom Bermuda has helped me along the way in such a short time, in the last year. I entered the room on the first night as an angry sister affected by the gun violence and since then I can attest to my improvement, my confidence, my love I have gained for other members in the group.

“We put aside all differences, we leave that at the door, we come in, we express our feelings from the week.

“All of our emotions get spilt at the table. I leave feeling very refreshed and I look forward to our weekly meetings and we’re now extending the assistance we get to the wider public.”

Ms Crockwell added: “If anyone is home suffering in silence, this is the place to be.”

Counsellors will also be at tonight’s meeting in the Kalmar Richards Conference Room at CedarBridge Academy in Devonshire, from 6pm until 7.30pm. Light refreshments and childcare will be available.

Ms Crockwell said attendance was not limited to people who have experienced recent tragedy and welcomed women who had lost family members to violence many years ago.

She added: “The need for this event is long overdue. We receive this help every single week and we’ve been receiving it for a year.

“We don’t want to be selfish in what we’re receiving so we’re extending it to the public.”