#iWill Social Action Story

um I'm Brooke. I'm interviewing Millie. Hi, Millie. So, what got you interested in your social action? Uh, I think the environment is always something that I've been very passionate about from a young age, and I can't really, like, put a pinpoint on the age where I, like, knew I wanted to do something about it

Uh, but when I joined secondary school in 2019, I found out that our school had an eco club. And so, seeing as that's something that I'd always kind of been interested in, I thought I'll join it because we were also encouraged to, like, join the groups in our school. So I joined it, and then we sort of just learned more about it, and then it just kind of grew on me that, you know, it was something we had to sort out, and so I kind of made it a priority of mine, making sure that the climate crisis and everything that comes alongside it was sorted

So how does you should ask her and make you feel, um I think because social action is su such like a wide range of things. I think mostly it made me feel kind of like at home. And, like, I had people that were similar to me in a way, uh, because I've met so many people that have, you know, the same interest in me and not necessarily even in the environment, just like in helping people and helping the world and like doing social action

And so I think, always being sort of an outcast because I was so interested in a certain subject that everyone else thought was a bit weird. Um, meeting all the people that had the same sort of mindset as he was a really nice thing for me. I don't know

It just made me feel kind of like, um supported and respected, and that's really nice thing to feel. So what actually inspired you to be an ambassador? Uh, what happened was I'm also part of a conservation group called Young Rangers, and we go around and help farmers and stuff like that with conserving their own area, so, like we will help them with hedgerows, but like in a way that's sustainable, that we can maintain the life while doing the farm work that they need. And through that, um, my young Rangers leader

She's called Heather. She gave me the link to I will, and she said like, Millie, you've done so much. You should join this

And so, yeah, I went on to the website and I, um, uploaded little voice messages of me talking about what I'd done and I didn't really expect to be an I will ambassador, to be honest, because I checked the website and there were so many people that had done so much. And so then when I got submitted out, it was amazing. And then I think because of that, it just kind of encouraged me to do even more work, you know, to, like maintain my role as an I will ambassador

And so through that I've done a lot with Amalia and the team to, you know, make sure that I can keep doing my social action when other things kind of can't go the way they were planned. So what do you How do you plan to progress with your social action in the future? Uh, well, I was thinking about this the other day, actually, and our business is sort of like running down like it's not going bankrupt or anything, but it's just slowing down and sort of because we had a lot of stuff planned and it was all kind of came in one big blob. And so now we've kind of got all that stuff out the way we're still trying to find new ideas, and even though it's such so old business now because it's been running for five years, um, there's still things we're trying to figure out like any other business

And so I really want to try and find something that I can do alongside it, to make sure that I keep doing my social action because obviously it makes me feel really good about myself. Um, and like, makes me feel happy and like, I have a purpose. And so I think I'd really like to do something, maybe to do with mental health

I've been talking a lot, talking a lot to the people on the, uh residential, and a lot of them are interested in, like mental health, and they've done stuff to do with that. So I think that's something I'd really enjoy. Any advice for any potential new ambassadors? Yeah, uh, so every single person I've interviewed uh, they've all said when I've asked that same question to just go ahead and do it because even like the tiny little things make a massive difference

And when I signed up, I obviously thought like, Oh, I haven't done that because these amazing people have, like, spoken to prime ministers and been in the Green Room. But in reality, I think it's the small things that matter the most because like even just putting the recycling in the right bin is really important. And so no matter what you do, it's going to make a difference

Like anything that you do that is going to make a change will affect somebody in some way. And so I think it's really important that whatever it is, you just go ahead and do it. And you don't care about people judging you or how it will affect you because it's only really, ever going to affect you and everyone else in the world positively

So. I think it's important that you just do whatever your heart wants you to do. Do you have anything else you'd like to add? No, I don't think so

Thank you very much. Thanks.