Church group pays tribute to anti-guns campaigner Pat Regan

The founders of Christian community charity Bringing Hope have paid tribute to Pat Regan, a mother who became a prominent anti-guns and knives campaigner after she lost her son in an underworld-style shooting in 2002.

Ms Regan was found stabbed to death in her flat in Leeds on 2 June. Her 20-year-old grandson, Rakeim Regan, has been charged with her murder.

Bringing Hope was just one of the many anti-gun charities that Pat Regan worked with. Others included Mothers Against Violence Manchester, Redcar, Families for Peace, Don't Trigger and MAMA (Mothers Against Murder and Aggression).

In a joint statement, together with Bringing Hope, they paid tribute to the campaigner.

"As coordinator for Mothers Against Violence (MAV) in Yorkshire Pat tirelessly channelled her own grief to effect change, challenge policies and to divert children and young people from lifestyles glorifying knife and gun crime. We will miss her terribly, our condolences go out to her family," they wrote.

Speaking after her funeral on Friday, Bringing Hope co-founder, the Rev Robin Thompson said, "Pat was very genuine, dedicated to her work. She didn't try to pretty things up, whether she was talking to the prime minister or a mother in pain. What always came across was that she was a thoroughly loving mum."

The Rev Carver Anderson, also of Bringing Hope, said: "Pat left a lot of us mourning but a huge legacy will come from her life. Things are already happening and they will carry on.

"She was a catalyst for reformation and change. People's lives were changed through her life and they are changed in her death.

"She epitomised transformation and we have seen with our eyes that that transforming work in carrying on."

It was evident to all that she was passionate to make sure other mothers didn't experience what she had gone through.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, also paid tribute to Regan.

"Pat was motivated by her deep love for her lost son and by a vibrant faith with love at its heart. Her loss is a tragedy to a community who have been robbed of a passionate voice against violence and to a wider society that is still not doing enough to embrace those values for which Pat campaigned," he said.

"In her efforts to educate and transform the lives of young people at risk from violence Pat has left a legacy that will be lived out in the lives of the people of Leeds and beyond."