The highly anticipated second East London Family Justice Board (ELFJB) Conference took place on 8 October 2025 at the Town Hall of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the theme: ‘Young People: Improving Outcomes in Family Justice’. The team organising the event was led by Victoria Roberts, barrister at Coram Chambers and recently appointed joint chair of the ELFJB.
The event opened with an address from Designated Family Judge HHJ Atkinson, who set the stage for a day of thought-provoking discussion and shared learning. Steve Reddy, Director of Children’s Services in Tower Hamlets, followed with a call to continue partnership and pursue innovative approaches to safeguard the welfare of young people.
HHJ Atkinson speaking from the East London Family Justice Board 2025 Conference
The first panel, chaired by Mr Justice Allister MacDonald, explored the topic ‘Foreign Children in a Foreign Land: Dignified, Welfare Decision-Making’. Joined by HHJ Bugg, East London Family Court, Imogen Spencer-Chapman, ECPAT UK, and Eniola Onigbano, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, they discussed the challenges faced by unaccompanied and trafficked children. Their insights were invaluable for those undertaking the delicate task of conducting age assessments and highlighted the importance of considering each child’s unique needs, which are often shaped by linguistic, cultural, and emotional challenges.
Sir Andrew McFarlane speaking from the East London Family Justice Board 2025 Conference
Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division, delivered a warm welcome address, which centred on the importance of continuous professional development to ensure the best outcomes for families. Sir Andrew reflected on the findings of the recent Independent Review of Bullying, Harassment and Sexual Harassment at the Bar report, underscoring the need for ongoing change within the profession. He also emphasised the need to give due consideration to kinship care in the context of adoption proceedings. In closing, Sir Andrew expressed hope for the forthcoming Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which set a positive platform for the day ahead.
Eythan Bell from Be Heard As One, speaking at the East London Family Justice Board 2025 Conference
Dr Ruth Weir, City St George’s University of London, speaking from the East London Family Justice Board 2025 Conference
Shikisha Husbands, London Borough of Redbridge, speaking from the East London Family Justice Board 2025 Conference
Eimear Timmons from The Lighthouse, speaking from the East London Family Justice Board 2025 Conference
The second panel, chaired by Matthew Jeary, focused on ‘Gens A–Z Relationships’. Dr Ruth Wier, City University of London, Elmear Timmons, The Lighthouse, Eythan Bell, Be Heard As One, and Shikisha Husbands, London Borough of Redbridge, brought valuable insights from real-life examples of their work to highlight the emerging risks of peer-on-peer abuse, inter-familial harm, and online exploitation for young people. The session concluded with reflections on trauma-informed approaches, which should be rooted in lived experience and community-based outreach.
Rebecca Bethune, London Borough of Newham, speaking at the East London Family Justice Board 2025 Conference
Sophie Humphreys OBE delivered an uplifting keynote speech. The founder of Pause, a national charity that supports women at risk of losing children, and SHiFT, which supports children at risk of being caught up in crime, focused on the breaking cycles model that makes both organisations a success. She introduced her upcoming project, Reset, which addresses the growing number of young people being deprived of their liberty or placed in secure accommodation. Working in partnership with Local Authorities, Reset seeks not simply to manage risk, but to get to know young people and provide holistic treatment to ensure real change.
Joint chair of the East London Family Justice Board, Deborah Piccos, speaking at the 2025 Conference
Joint chair of the ELFJB, Deborah Piccos, chaired the third panel on the topic of ‘Adolescence: Attachment, Brain Development, and Risk’. Dr Malcolm Bourne, Dr Peter Maggs, and Dr Tammy Surgenor opened with a helpful explanation of how attachment theory assists our understanding of behaviour and then addressed the impact of trauma on the developing brain, where executive function matures more slowly. Examples from the professionals’ own practice illuminated the discussion, which closed with a helpful reminder to respond not simply to difficult behaviour, but to each young person’s underlying needs.
Jahnine Davis, National Kinship Care Ambassador for the Department of Education, speaking from the East London Family Justice Board 2025 Conference
The final panel, chaired by HHJ Thain featured diverse professionals, including Dr Claire Fitzpatrick, Lancaster University, Jahnine Davis, Listen Up, National Kinship Care Ambassador for the Department of Education, and social workers, Sabina Samad and Gursel Bekan from the London Boroughs of Redbridge and Tower Hamlets. ‘Contextual Safeguarding: Improving Practice to Challenge Exploitation, Adultification, and Criminalisation’, explored the experience of girls in care in the courtroom, trauma-informed record keeping, and adultification bias – that our perception of children as vulnerable is a privilege not often afforded to racialised children. Fittingly, the talk ended with videos recorded by young people themselves, who spoke movingly about what made a real difference to them as they turned their lives around.
HHJ Thain speaking from the East London Family Justice Board 2025 Conference
This year’s sold-out event exceeded the high bar set by last year’s inaugural conference, underlining the strong motivation and need for judges, legal professionals, social workers, and other stakeholders to come together and share their expertise with the shared goal of improving outcomes for young people.
