Introducing Matilda Barry: CWW’s first Youth Ambassador
Hello! I’m Matilda Barry. I’m 16 years old and have recently finished school and like many of this year’s school leavers I am unsure what career I wish to pursue in the near future. When the opportunity with Clean Water Wave came about, to be their youth ambassador, I knew it was an opportunity of a lifetime….
Where I’m from: Sunderland, in the NE of England
I have lived in Sunderland all my life. It’s quite a small city on the coast of England with a heavy industrial past. There aren’t many opportunities for school leavers, like me, to make a difference in the world.
Sunderland was an industrial town that was known for ship building and coal mining. Much of the city’s history is still visible along the river with abandoned factories and a view of the port where the water filter is being manufactured!
When the ship building industry collapsed so did opportunities in Sunderland. Unemployment rose and so did poverty and the chance to get out of the city. With the Nissan car factory and the NHS being the biggest employers in Sunderland there is little opportunity to have a career that can offer excitement and opportunities beyond these two employers.
That’s why I knew I had to take this chance to work alongside Clean Water Wave.
Taking a chance to make a wave of change
I have no past experience of writing blogs but have always had an interest in writing and reading books. I hope that by writing these blogs for Clean Water Wave I can further educate myself and others about the climate emergency the world is currently facing.
Let’s be honest: drastic change is needed.
I’ve always been aware of the current climate emergency but have never really understood the urgency of it. Following groups like Extinction Rebellion and young leaders like, Greta Thunberg, I began to gradually accept that the climate emergency will cause irreversible damage by the year 2035 and will cause the destruction of life as we now know it.
When further educating myself with the facts and figures of the climate emergency I was truly shocked at the condition of the world and how many people don’t have access to clean healthy drinking water. This unsettled me and I knew I had to do my part in saving the planet, of the reasons I choose to work with Clean Water Wave.
CWW’s first Youth Ambassador
Another reason I am excited to work with CWW is the opportunity to educate people about the issues surrounding the climate emergency. Personally, I think that this is an extremely important part of the role as a youth ambassador.
I think this because the right education can help people make better decisions about the way they handle their waste and can help them choose more eco-friendly choices when buying products. The importance of this cannot be stressed enough as the choices we make today will affect us in the foreseeable future.
That is why we must make sure we are making the right choices and decisions when tackling the climate emergency.
I want to use my enthusiasm and knowledge to help other young people make the right choices and to help improve the environment for our future.
If you have any questions or ideas about how to make a positive impact as Youth Ambassador, or you want to join us in our Clean Water Wave mission, please get in touch!