In this presentation Amanda Naylor will share insights drawn from the project See Hear Respond, in which she headed an 84-strong voluntary and community sector partnership throughout England to get support during the pandemic to children that were ‘hidden from view’ and needed help. Many of the key insights and learnings are drawn from the national database the project produced – holding the most data regarding children’s experiences during the pandemic. Amanda will use her closeness to the work, and professional expertise, to share key learnings about the impact and legacy COVID-19 has had for children. She will extend this learning to the current context by sharing her experiences as CEO at Manchester Youth Zone, working in one of the most deprived wards in the UK with real life examples of how the pandemic affected children’s safety, development, health, education and family outcomes. This will open up a discussion on what works for children facing these issues and what we as a society need to do next.

Amanda Naylor is a qualified youth worker, social worker and forensic psychologist. She has gravitated to working in rights-based methodologies with some of the most under-served members of society, both throughout the UK and in Central Asia. In 2022 she was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours for her role in supporting over 100,000 children during the pandemic.