Adrian is a Trustee of the AoCPP and Chair of the Practice Learning SIG Chair.  Adrian qualified as a Registered General Nurse (1987), Cardiothoracic Nurse (1989) and Registered Health Visitor (1992) and has worked both in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) and East Warwickshire. He has worked in the Safeguarding arena, initially as a Child Protection Nurse Specialist /Named Nurse for Child Protection and from 2004 -2020 as a  Consultant/Designated Nurse for Safeguarding Children (incorporating Adult Safeguarding into role from 2011). Adrian managed the Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and hosted Safeguarding Team (working across LLR).  As part of  role  worked with local safeguarding and has chaired a number of inter-agency subgroups, contributed and authored Serious Case Reviews, Adult Learning Reviews and a Domestic Homicide Review  Co-Chaired the LLR Channel Panel for 6 years and worked with partners as a CCG prevent lead.

He is Honorary Principal Lecturer at De Montfort University (1999- 2015) School of Nursing and Midwifery.  In April 2020 took on a new role and is currently Safeguarding Professional Lead for NHS England.  The Midlands NHSE/I safeguarding team covers both East and West Midlands. Adrian is also a Parent Governor of a local school in Leicester.

Andrew Clarke is Chair of the Cyber Safeguarding Steering Group (CSSG) and CEO of Recyber. His work focuses on behavioural cyber risk and safeguarding, helping organisations better understand and reduce the human factors that contribute to online harm. He works across education, industry and government to improve digital resilience and create safer online environments for children and young people.

Charlotte Ashton is the co-founder of Generation Focus, a national campaign advocating for the prohibition of smartphones on all UK school sites. She worked for twenty years as a reporter and presenter for BBC News and BBC Radio 4 before parental concern for her two primary-aged daughters drove her to lead the Warwickshire regional branch of the Smartphone Free Childhood movement. Generation Focus was founded to support schools to implement gold-standard smartphone policies, to protect pupils from online harm, non-consensual photography and constant distraction at school and on the school commute, while empowering parents to delay giving smartphones in the first place.

Dr Ciaran Murphy is currently employed as a Reader in Social Work in Edge Hill University's Faculty of Health, Social Care and Medicine. Ciaran continues to lead on specialist children and families; research; and safeguarding modules. Before working in academia, Ciaran practised for 10 years in the areas of child protection, substance misuse and education welfare. Ciaran remains a qualified and registered social worker, specialising in child protection and risk assessment. Moreover, he is an active researcher with a particular interest in elucidating the lived experiences of practicing child protection social workers and how we can better promote child-centred child protection and social work practice.

Dr Gemma Taylor is an Associate Professor at the University of Salford. She investigates the role of digital media in children’s early development and recently gave oral evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee as part of its inquiry into children’s television and video content in the UK.

Dr Sam Warner is a specialist in trauma-informed therapy, safeguarding and training. She is a consultant clinical psychologist and the chair of the Association of Child Protection Professionals. Sam holds an honorary senior lectureship at Salford University. She is a member of the advisory committee of the national working group against Spiritual and Ritual Abuse. Sam is also a national safeguarding panel member for Sport Resolutions, the independent dispute resolution service for sport. Sam has nearly forty years’ experience of working with children, young people and adults who have complex mental health and safeguarding needs. Sam has specialised throughout her career in working with the impact of abuse-trauma, focusing on sexual violence, child abuse and neglect, domestic abuse, exploitation, and in respect of all key related issues. These include: attachment difficulties and ‘personality disorders’, self-harm and suicide, dissociation and psychosis, spiritual and ritual abuse, fabricated and induced illness, developmental disorders and neurodiverse conditions including learning difficulties, ASD and ADHD. Sam has written books, papers and reports on these issues and advises at national and international levels. Sam provides complex trauma therapy with high risk clients and she works as an expert witness in the family courts (providing risk and needs assessments of both adults and children; victims and perpetrators). She delivers system-wide interventions with children who are looked after and provides bespoke clinical leadership to residential childcare services. Sam has extensive experience of working creatively with clients providing dream analysis; and art and drama-based therapeutic and training methods

Dr Sarah Carlick started her professional career as a social worker and a probation officer, gaining experience in the public, private and voluntary sectors in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The Director of MeSafe supporting organisations to develop a strategic approach to Digital Safeguarding that promotes co-design with children and young people. She was the founder of a Safeguarding Training and Consultancy company for 19 years.

The focus of academic research is on co-producing new ways of working at the front door of child protection to extend the current socio-technical framework to improve outcomes for children. Including developments in child protection and early help, smart phone apps relating to managing risk and safeguarding.

Chairperson of the Digital Safeguarding Special Interest Group - Association of Child Protection Professionals (UK). She is an international speaker, panel judge, published author, a visiting university lecturer and associate researcher.

Susie Davies is a GP with a special interest in adolescent mental health. She is the founder of PAPAYA and is passionate about improving mental health outcomes for today’s adolescents. She founded PAPAYA seven years ago after recognising the link between technology use and poor mental health in students. She has given countless talks across the UK and is recognised as a national advocate and speaker on this topic. She is also the author of The Healthy Selfie: How to Like Yourself in the Digital Age.

Lucy is qualified CPCAB Counsellor and a former Detective Chief Inspector in the Metropolitan Police. She has an expertise in complex investigations and intelligence and specialises in prevention against cyberbullying, information leakage and how to protect ourselves and our loved ones whilst online. After spending 5 years as Online Safety Lead for a National Anti- Bullying Charity, Lucy created LucyHowardOnline to support parents and educators in all aspects of Online Wellbeing including practical advice around devices, apps and pIatforms. She provides and delivers bespoke advice and training, on how we can use our digital devices and apps in safe and secure ways to protect both ourselves and our children from risk and reduce the incidence of cyberbullying. Lucy also see clients in a Secondary School, counselling children and young people aged 11-18. Using her Counselling skills she brings the two worlds together, working on both the proactive and reactive impact of online spaces.

Nicola O’Brien is the Director of Safeguarding and Designated Safeguarding Lead at an independent boarding school for ages 4-18. As a languages teacher for 30 years and housemistress of 62 teenage girls for 8 years, she became passionate about supporting children and young people through their adolescence. Realising that the DSL role was unique, important, yet often attached to other job descriptions, she began a DSL Cluster group for colleagues in similar settings. She is an accredited Safer Recruitment Trainer and holds the NSPCC accreditation as a Safeguarding Trainer.

Sarah is now a researcher looking at exploitation and children with additional needs at Manchester Metropolitan University working with Professor Anita Franklin. She was a children’s social worker for many years and later Independent Reviewing Officer/ child protection coordinator and remains a registered social worker. She co-chairs of the National Working Group on Safeguarding Disabled Children. She also chairs the BASW sub-group on working with disabled children and their families. Until recently she worked at the University of Nottingham as safeguarding disabled children and young people manager at the Ann Craft Trust carrying out practice research, developing training in safeguarding disabled children and specialising in work around sexual abuse and exploitation, child voice and participation. She now works independently to deliver training nationally looking specifically at the intersection between abuse and learning disabled and neurodiverse children and young people in institutions, extra and intra familial harm. She is studying for a professional doctorate at Bedfordshire looking at communication in sexual abuse enquiries with neurodiverse and learning-disabled children.

Sharon Birch is a Safeguarding Consultant, former child protection detective and author with more than 40 years' experience in safeguarding children and vulnerable people. Sharon has worked across policing, education, the voluntary sector and consultancy. She has worked with the NSPCC, charities and national organisations in safeguarding leadership roles. She also owned an Ofsted Outstanding nursery recognised nationally for its inclusive practice. She has extensive experience as a family advocate, safeguarding lead and multi-agency trainer. She is committed to promoting strong safeguarding cultures through collaboration, professional curiosity and evidence-informed practice, helping organisations create environments where children and adults can thrive safely.

Steve Myers is a registered Social Worker with a background in child protection and youth justice. He has worked as a Social Worker in both statutory and voluntary organisations and has been involved with the education of social workers in Higher Education for the past 25 years, including leadership roles. Steve has researched and written about strengths-based and solution-focused practice, working with violent behaviour including sexual violence and assessment in social work practice.