A leading campaigner from Bromley is to host the UK’s first ever conference for child abuse survivors.

Christine Tuck, of Queensway in West Wickham, is leading the event, Life After Abuse, in central London on September 13 where three abuse survivors will bravely tell their stories.

The conference will be the first of its kind in the UK to bring together abuse victims and those who work with them including social workers, GPs, counsellors, police and therapists.

Ms Tuck, 44, who is a survivor herself, recently gave up her job as an accountant to train as a health coach and focus on helping abuse victims to recover.

She told News Shopper: "We want to raise awareness of what we have been through. It is important that people who have been abused know there is help out there.

"It lives with you day in, day out and it can destroy your life."

Ms Tuck, who founded the charity Survivors of Abuse, said she overcame her own struggle by focusing on her health.

She said: "Fitness was my survivor. Many people over eat if they have been abused so I help them with fat loss and fitness.

"It’s about getting rid of the shame and the guilt that these people have been through. You are at a point in your life where you are so low."

Ms Tuck, who wrote a book about her own abuse survival, appeared on Sky News on Thursday calling for a new UK watchdog to tackle child abuse.

She said the present system of child protection badly needed reform after an investigation revealed 1,400 children in Rotherham had been sexually abused over 16 years.

Ms Tuck told News Shopper: "The impact on the girls that have gone through that trauma is going to resonate for years. The victim now needs to be put at the forefront of these investigations."

For information on how to register for the Life after Abuse conference visit www.survivors-of-abuse.org