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

The extremely engaging and impactful talk led by Dr Stuart Lawrence took place in the Martin Read Hall on March 1 and was arranged by equality and diversity leader Stef Harvey.

Dr Stuart grew up in south London and is the brother of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in 1993.

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 question and answer session, in which students asked Dr Stuart a range of insightful questions which had extremely high student engagement.

Suki Dhesi, vice-principal for students, learning and quality, said: “This was the most inspirational and impactful speaker that I have ever listened to. Thirty 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 for organisational development and 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 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 experiences, he spoke about his book Silence is Not an Option: Find Your Voice and Be Your Best Self, and some students and staff brought copies along to get signed.

A spokesperson for Alton College said: “A huge thank you to Dr Stuart for visiting and for Stef for arranging – it was an excellent session!”