A CAMPAIGNING mother is on her way to creating a lasting legacy for her murdered daughter – two years after her brutal death.

Ever since former Haslingden High pupil Sophie Lancaster was attacked and fatally injured in Bacup’s Stubby-lee Park in August 2007, her mother Sylvia has dedicated her life to battling on behalf of the alternative subculture her daughter belonged to.

Sophie, 20, and her partner Rob Maltby were victimised by four gang members because, as they were dressed as goths, they looked ‘different’.

In the past few months alone, Sylvia has been working closely with Bolton Council, which is planning to launch its own Be Safe initiative, designed to combat hate crime incidents there.

And Sylvia, who has a background in community work, has secured a place on a similar hate crime initiative for Lancashire County Council, after she held talks with Blackburn MP and Justice Minister Jack Straw.

In Bolton a network of hate crime reporting centres has been established, to allow people who feel they have been targeted because of their ethnicity, gender or for being part of a sub-culture, to come forward and report incidents in confidence.

Sylvia has heralded the fact that the centres will include people who are victimised because of their ‘lifestyle and dress code’ as an important breakthrough in her struggle for recognition of the problems faced by subcultures.

She believes that attacks on ‘goths’ and people from alternative cultures are more likely than when Sophie and Rob were singled out.

Sylvia said: “I’ve dedicated my life’s work to creating a lasting legacy to my daughter Sophie.

“And what I’ve learned since her attack two years ago is that people of all ages that are part of a subculture, like goths, emos, punks, moshers, and everything in-between, particularly younger people, are being subjected to serious and regular attacks when they’re walking down the street, simply for expressing their individuality.

“We need to recognise that this is totally unacceptable, and is as serious as anyone being abused because they’re in a wheelchair, or gay, or black”.

Music lovers have held tribute concerts in support of the SOPHIE (Stamp Out Prejudice, Hatred and Intolerance Everywhere) campaign.