JULIE Hambleton has dedicated her life to campaigning for the families of the 21 victims of the Birmingham pub bombings.
Her sister Maxine died in the 1974 IRA attacks, which also injured more than 180 people.
After six men wrongly convicted were released from prison in 1991 following an appeal, Julie continued to speak out for the Birmingham victims through the Justice 4 the 21 campaign.
The real bombers have never been caught.
Maxine was just 18 years old when she died, her murder devastating her family.
And given that none of them were present at the scene of the attack, they will not be entitled to apply for a new victims' pension.
"I've always felt that as far as the government are concerned, the families of those who were killed in Birmingham may as well be buried next to our dead," Julie said.
"Families who had to go and ID their loved ones. My mum saw Maxine - that's not something anyone can recover from.
"I was 11 at the time of Maxine's death, but it's only as I got older that I've realised the damage it has done.
"It completely changed all of our lives, none of us are the people we would have been had Maxine survived."
A lecturer, Julie is currently in the running to become the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.
If successful, she says she intends "to be a voice for the community".
The campaigner says current legacy proposals are an insult not only to the bereaved but to those who suffered life-changing injuries in the Birmingham bombings.
"Maxine had such a powerful aura as a big sister, she was a real free spirit and very intelligent, very forward thinking," she said.
"She'd just started a job in Miss Selfridges and what little money she earned she spent on us.
"Looking back now I can see how my behaviour as a youngster changed as a result.
"I know more now about how trauma can impact on a person, but it destroyed us all, we've never been the same.
"Even if the money was available to us we wouldn't accept it, money won't bring her back.
"In fact it's an insult, I'd go as far as saying it's perverse.
"People left disabled or grieving through no fault of their own and their own government has not a care to help them through the rest of their days."
