Motivational Guest Speaker Inspires Alton College

An inspirational guest speaker wowed hundreds of students, staff and local schools at Alton College with his impressive session.

The extremely engaging and impactful talk, led by Dr Stuart Lawrence took place on campus on Friday 1 March and was arranged by Equality & Diversity Lead Stef Harvey.

A large number of students from a variety of subject areas alongside local feeder schools and several staff members headed to the Martin Read Hall to learn more about Dr Stuart’s journey and past experiences.

Dr Stuart Lawrence, who grew up in South London, gave all attendees an insight into his life growing up and the journey that he has been on to get to where he is today. He also detailed the tragic loss of his brother Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and how this prompted him to inspire and educate others to make a difference and think about their own responsibility when it comes to racism.

After his session, there was an opportunity for students to engage in a Q&A session, where students asked Dr Stuart a range of insightful questions which had extremely high student engagement.

Suki Dhesi, Vice Principal – Students, Learning & Quality said:

“This was the most inspirational and impactful speaker that I have ever listened to… 30 years on and Hon Dr Stuart Lawrence still has the strength to fight the injustices around institutional racism. What a revolutionary!”

Leona Berry, Vice Principal – Organisational Development & People added:

“In a deeply impactful session, our staff and student community along with local schools united as Hon Dr. Stuart Lawrence passionately championed anti-racism through sharing his personal journey.

Together, we discovered the transformative power of HOPE (Helping One Person Every Day) in making a lasting impact and how anti-racism is much more than simply not being racist.”

In addition to talking about his own personal experiences, he also spoke about his book Silence is Not an Option: Find Your Voice and Be Your Best Self which is available to purchase, and some students and staff even brought copies along to get signed.

A huge thank you to Dr Stuart for visiting and for Stef for arranging – it was an excellent session!