Stuff - A march supporting Lauren Dickason expected to attract up to 200 drew only a handful of participants in Christchurch on Saturday.

Organisers flew in from Melbourne and Auckland for the event, held to support Dickason who was found guilty in August of murdering her three young daughters in Timaru in 2021.

About a dozen marchers walked from Christchurch’s justice precinct to the Botanic Gardens where they held a picnic. They handed out artificial sunflowers and wore t-shirts with the words “Support not silence”.

Organiser Colette Wood, who travelled from Melbourne, said they wanted to draw attention to maternal mental health as well as showing they disagreed with the guilty verdict in Dickason’s case.

Dickason is in custody at Hillmorton Hospital awaiting sentencing for the murder of daughters Liané, 6, and twins Maya and Karla, 2.

Wood is one of the leaders of a website and private Facebook group “Support for Lauren Dickason”, which has more than 1900 members, mostly women. The march had been planned for more than two months.

“People were scared to come,” Wood said.

“We thought we would get more people, but to come to something like that you have to be brave. On social media, trolls can be incredibly cruel.”

 She said the march was “absolutely beautiful” despite the small turnout, and they spoke to many people on the street.

In October Dickason was stopped from sending and receiving letters after it was revealed she had been corresponding with supporters. She also sent them a painting and a photograph of teddy bears she sleeps with sewn from her children’s clothing.

Her supporters have signed a petition asking that she be sentenced leniently due to her postpartum depression.