Last week, Esther Ghey, mother of the late Brianna Ghey, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Chester for her campaign work to safeguard young people's mental health.

Esther Ghey, founder of the Brianna Ghey Legacy Project and campaigner for Phone Free Education, established both initiatives following the murder of her 16-year-old daughter, Brianna, in February 2023.

Citing the "incredible honour" of receiving the honorary doctorate, Esther reflected on her own journey in education during her speech. Having returned to college in her 30s, she re-sat her GCSEs and completed her BSc, which she described as "the best years of her life."

She also expressed how her commitment to providing all children with a high-quality education drives her campaign for phone-free schools and the funding to implement them.

"Everything I work on now is because of the suffering my beautiful daughter, Brianna went through," she added. "I'm determined to create positive change in her memory and to ensure that other families don't go through the pain we have."

Before Brianna's death, she struggled with anorexia, self-harm, and isolation - which were "significantly exacerbated" by the harmful content she was consuming online.

It was also later found that one of Brianna's killers, a 15-year-old, had been consuming violent material online.

The Brianna Ghey Legacy Project supports the mental health and wellbeing of young people and families across the UK, whilst Phone Free Education campaigns for safer, phone-free learning environments in schools to protect children from harmful online material.

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Esther Ghey added: "I wouldn't have been able to do any of this work without the love, support and guidance of so many outstanding people who I have met on my journey, especially my amazing team at @briannagheylegacyproject

"Thank you to the University of Chester for this recognition. My heart is full. Thanks to you all."