FRIENDS brought together by a tragedy laughed and cried together at a very special event.

The Hub in Westhoughton hosted survivors of the Manchester Arena attack and their relatives after they formed their own support group in the aftermath of the cruel attack.

A mother and daughter from Westhoughton who suffered with the psychological impact of the terrorist attack are part of the group and organised the event held last weekend.

Cllr Anna-Marie Watters, chairman of the board for The Hub, said: "We laughed, cried, danced and cried some more, raised money for the survivors fund. It was a truly amazing event with so many brave people."

Cllr Watter explained that a lot of the therapy offered after the attack in May last year was targeted at people who were in the foyer. She said: "What they have done is created their own little self help group where they organise different events in different places because they get each other, they understand each other. It was amazing how many people came over the day."

Around 100 people came to the event from as far afield as Glasgow and Yorkshire and some as young as five attended.

Many of the people who attended had never met before and had become fast friends through online social media.

During the day Howfen Radio, Westhhoughton's community station, played a pre-recorded two hour special featuring Ariana Grande songs, poems and messages of love.

Andy Partington, founder of the station, worked with the survivors to pick the right songs.

He said: "This was the hardest show I've ever had to put together."

Aspire Dance and Stage provided dance lessons to some of the visitors teaching them moves from some of her popular hits.

Tracy Prescott from Creation Station provided some creative entertainment on the day supplying paints and Play-Doh for the visitors.

Woodwork tutor Emma Greaves also volunteered her time helping visitors create gifts and tokens of remembrance.

Volunteers from The Hub helped out with food and drinks including a selection of mocktails.

A tree of remembrance has also been created at The Hub, the lady from Westhoughton who survived the attack, painted the tree onto a wall at The Hub. It features the names of the 22 people killed in the attack including John Atkinson from Radcliffe and Olivia Campbell-Hardy from Bury.

On the opposite wall visitors created butterflies and bees using their thumbprints with messages of love from the survivors.