Thank You for Joining Our Annual Public Lecture

10th Mar 2026

Equality Action would like to thank everyone who attended our Annual Public Lecture: Keeping Our Children and Young People Safe Online.

The event brought together parents, educators, professionals, community organisations and young people to discuss how we can better understand and respond to the opportunities and risks that children encounter in digital spaces.

We are grateful to our keynote speakers Grace Strong, Director of Prevention at Leicestershire Police, and Lisa Wilkinson, Community and Young People Involvement Manager at the Violence Reduction Network. Their insights highlighted the importance of prevention, collaboration and community engagement when addressing harm affecting young people.

Following the keynote presentations, our panel discussion featured Dr Nisha Karia, Sarah Sadler, Hema Badger-Mistry and Ismail Sarwar, who shared perspectives from psychology, education, youth work and lived experience. The panel discussion and audience Q&A opened up important conversations about the real challenges families and professionals face when supporting young people online.

We would also like to thank Loughborough University for hosting the lecture and for their ongoing support. We were pleased to welcome the Mayor, whose presence reflected the importance of this issue for our local communities.

Throughout the evening, speakers reflected on how young people use digital spaces for communication, creativity and learning. At the same time, they highlighted the growing concerns around online harms, including exposure to harmful content, social pressures, misinformation and exploitation.

One clear message emerged from the discussion: keeping children safe online requires a shared, whole-community approach. Parents, schools, professionals, communities and digital platforms all have a role to play in helping young people navigate the online world safely and confidently.

To capture the key points from the evening, Equality Action has produced a lecture booklet summarising the discussions, insights and key messages from the event.

You can read the booklet here.

You can also find the lecture slides here.

We look forward to continuing these important conversations and thank everyone who helped make this event possible.

Get Involved with Equality Action

Equality Action works year-round to support communities, challenge inequality and promote inclusion across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

If you would like to stay connected with our work, there are many ways to get involved, whether that’s attending future events, volunteering, becoming a member or partnering with us on community initiatives.

Contact us:

📞 01509 261651

📧 contact@equalityaction.org.uk

📍 66 Nottingham Rd, Loughborough, LE11 1EU