Julian Smith MP recently met Tink Palmer MBE, the founder of the Marie Collins Foundation, which is based in the Ripon area and aims to equip agencies and professionals with the knowledge and understanding they need to respond to children who have been abused via the internet and mobile technologies. Tink herself has spent forty years working with children and families who have been affected by abuse and she was awarded her MBE in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List for her nationally and internationally extensive work in this field.

Tink and the Marie Collins Foundation recently launched ‘Click: Path to Protection’, a multi-disciplinary training programme to enable frontline workers and their managers to better protect children harmed online.

Julian Smith: ‘It was very interesting to hear about the vital work that Tink and her foundation are doing in this increasingly concerning area. I will do what I can to support her.’