Sophie Pereira, a gap year volunteer with Brentwood Catholic Youth Service and CAFOD, is travelling to COP26 with a group of young adults from across the country this week, to take part in a range of fringe events and activities.
The Colchester-based teenager, who studied at St Benedict’s School and Colchester Sixth Form College, hopes to become a primary school teacher. She is working for a year at retreat house Walsingham House at Abbotswick with BCYS while also acting as a Step into the Gap volunteer for CAFOD in schools.
“I am a bit nervous about going to COP26 as part of a CAFOD delegation as I don’t really know what to expect. But I am hopeful. This year is important in making decisions and I hope that our voices will be heard and the leaders will initiate the changes we want to happen.”