LFC back Anthony Walker Foundation

Anthony was killed in 2005 and on Thursday his mother, Gee, delivered a poignant speech to over 120 young people who had come from across Merseyside and beyond to take part in a day of workshops.

The aim was to raise awareness in the young audience about hate crime, identity based bullying, discrimination and prejudice and empower them to give their views on what needs to happen in relation to prevention.

Along with the keynote speech from Gee Walker, Amal Fashanu, niece of Justin Fashanu and campaigner for equality in sport, sent a recorded message for the guests.

Into the afternoon, the young people were allocated groups and took part in workshops with representatives from the Anthony Walker Foundation, Crown Prosecution Service, Merseyside Police, Sporting Equals, Gay Youth 'r' Out and the Merseyside Youth Association.

"My Anthony was a brilliant young man," Gee told Liverpoolfc.tv. "Beautiful inside, beautiful outside. He had aspirations, he was going places. He was 18 years old when his life was cruelly taken.

"Today is Anthony's legacy. These kids are making a difference and we're about change, we're about educating and hopefully these children will take what they've learnt and build on it. Our aim is to empower leaders - strong, tenacious leaders of the future.

"And I'm so proud of the kids here today because I've got a glimpse of the future and if they can take something from what they've learnt here, then there's hope for all of us.

"I'm sure my Anthony is somewhere somersaulting because I'm sure this is the sort of thing he would have been doing because he was a great man and today is his legacy.  We would like to thank Liverpool for hosting us."

Leona Vaughan, CEO of the Anthony Walker foundation, explained to Liverpoolfc.tv that the opinions and ideas expressed by the young people during the course of the day's sessions would be documented in a 'Merseyside youth hate crime charter'.

The charter would outline what they want criminal justice, health, education and sport organisations to do to challenge hate crime and discrimination, and what they feel their own responsibilities are in this respect.

Leona took to the stage first to explain to the young guests that diversity should be celebrated not shunned. She then asked them if they could define the word 'stereotype' before explaining how stereotypical views can lead to prejudice, discrimination and eventually, hate.

"Generally our aim is around promoting harmony," said Leona. "We want to promote stronger communities, communities that are cohesive that people feel included in and that was very much the aim from the setting up of the organisation by Anthony's family.

"The foundation and Liverpool Football Club have a long history of working together, so it's really good that Liverpool have been able to support us in this way.

"Our aims aren't just not just around race. They're around everything. Difference is a positive thing. Difference and diversity is good for our communities, so we're working to promote that and to enable young people to be able to promote that as well."

Amal Fashanu's words were transmitted to the children via a big screen as she was unable to attend. Her uncle, Justin, was the UK's first million pound player, the world's first openly gay footballer and he suffered from discrimination and prejudice tragically committing suicide in 1998.

Rishi Jain, LFC social inclusion officer, said: "It's great that we are able to host the Anthony Walker Foundation annual Youth Hate Crime Conference. We've always had a really strong partnership with the Foundation, particularlyin the development of the Colour Blind film in 2008 - it's really important to work with such a worthy cause and show our continuing support for the aims and objectives of their organisation."