Sophia Perkins: Development Worker – Sustaining Change and Sow Sew

Sophia completed a history degree, focusing on social change in the twentieth century, at Leeds University. She then went south and worked at the Tate art gallery doing marketing and then worked at a private art gallery in central London. Getting frustrated with living in London and hankering after a job that 'meant more' she changed careers and moved to working in the Third Sector, for an editorial social enterprise that worked for charities.

To cut a long story short, Sophia eventually quit London and her job and went to Wales to attend the Centre of Alternative Technology and study an MSc in Architecture: Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies.

Here, she was amazed at how much she could learn when the course was of true interest (and ambition). Nonetheless, she slowly realised that all the science and technology in the world could potentially save all sorts of things – animals, plants, humans – but if no one used it... Behavioural change became the focus of her studies and her ambition.

Sophia says: 'The Sustaining Change programme represents all the facets of my ambition to do something helpful by going to work each day. The project acts as a fantastic bridge. It shares knowledge and 'know-how' with organisations who may want to be sustainable, but may think they don't have the knowledge, time or money to do so. The project shows organisations how to dramatically decrease their carbon footprints, whilst not taking up much time and often saving money.'