'It's Silent': Race, Racism and Safeguarding Children Webinar 2 | BASW Norfolk Branch and Children and Families Group

Join us for this FREE webinar, the 2nd of 3 joint events hosted by the BASW England Norfolk Branch in partnership with the BASW Children & Families group, which will continue to explore the latest report from the National Child Safeguarding Review Panel. “It’s Silent”: Race, racism and safeguarding children which was published on 11 March 2025.

The report examines the impact of race, ethnicity and culture on multi-agency practice where children have suffered serious harm or died. It raises questions about how and why issues about race, racism and ethnicity remain so marginalised, understated and under-explored in safeguarding reviews and suggests that there is a need for a seismic change in how we address issues about race, culture and ethnicity in safeguarding practice.

In this session we will explore positive examples of innovative, creative and impactful Anti Racist practice from the perspective of those driving that innovation. We will hear from 4 councils, working in very different contexts, but at the leading edge of this work.

Our speakers are all Anti-Racist leads and they will explore their journey to get anti-racist practice on the agenda in the first place and some of the developments they have driven within their local systems. Speakers will also explore how this work is affected by the current hostile environment and highlight opportunities for future collaboration.

Antonia Ogindayisi, Essex - Our journey, its context and our work to embed an antiracist model across a whole County Council

Millie Kerr, Brighton – Our journey, within an explicit Anti-Racist lead role, the social work and corporate context including partnerships with family courts

Ray Adai, County Durham – Our work with regional partners and a reflection of the impact on this of work our new political administration.

Lisa Aldridge, Sophia Bramble and Debra Robinson, Hackney – Our journey and context, the role of education and a spotlight on our anti-racist reflective learning programme

The event will finish with a Q+A session, chaired by Rick Hood, Professor of Social Work from Kingston University and a call to action for how you can be the change we need to see.

Speaker details:

Antonia Ogindayisi is a qualified social worker who is dedicated to social justice and advocating for racially oppressed groups. She has worked across the public and voluntary sector, and currently oversees Essex County Council Children Services’ anti-racist practice strategy and leads anti-racist initiatives across the Eastern Region.  

Millie Kerr is the strategic anti-racist lead for Brighton & Hove City Council, supporting and developing anti-racist strategic action planning, systems and culture change across children’s and learning & development services.

Ray Addai is the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Anti-Racist Practice Lead for Durham County Council Children’s Social Care. Passionate about equity and systemic change, he champions inclusive practices, drives anti-racist initiatives, and empowers teams to create culturally sensitive interventions that improve outcomes for children, families and communities.

Lisa Aldridge is Head of Service for Safeguarding and Quality Assurance for Hackney Council. She contributed a chapter, ‘The Intersection of Racism and Poverty: What difference can we make?’ to The Anti-Racist Social Worker in Practice (Routledge, 2025) and is currently undertaking research asking: How do social workers disrupt racism in supervision and practice in a Children and Families Local Authority Context?

Sophia Bramble has worked in Hackney for over 20 years, currently as Practice Lead in early help and prevention, where her passion and drive lies in achieving equitability for communities we serve.  She has an MSc in Social Work and is currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Social Work focusing on Anti-racist Practice and Leadership.

Debra Robinson leads anti-racist practice development across education for Hackney Council.