Safeguarding conference hailed as success

Delegates who gathered in Liverpool this week for the North West Safeguarding Conference 2018 have hailed the event as a huge success.

The annual conference, which this year took place at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Liverpool City Centre, brought together experts and speakers on e-safety and protecting children in the modern age for was described by organisers, School Improvement Liverpool, as a “thought provoking and powerful day”.

Among the keynote speakers where Lorin LaFave, whose 14-year-old son, Breck Bednar, was groomed via online gaming platforms and subsequently murdered. Following his death Lorin set up the Breck Foundation which aims to educate young people on the dangers they face online.

Also speaking at the event was Dean Coady OBE, managing director at Urban Pure Solutions and a former Parachute Regiment soldier and Greater Manchester Police officer. Dean gave a particularly powerful speech on the importance of youth engagement and his experiences serving on the front-line in some of the most challenging areas in the UK.

Meanwhile Charlotte Aynsley, director for E-safety Training and Consultancy brought her broad range of experience in the field of internet safety to offer advice on keeping children safe online.

Attendees could also benefit from workshops on topics such as domestic abuse, child exploitation and street safety.

Delegates praised the event as “interesting and informative” and noted the “quality of keynote speakers and workshops,” with one adding: ‘I feel empowered to have a deeper understanding of grooming online, gang culture, keeping our children safe and to share messages with children and staff”.

For more on the work School Improvement Liverpool does visit www.schoolimprovementliverpool.co.uk