Alyssa Faith Fallorina Dean – Environmental Champion, shortlisted finalist

12-year-old Alyssa is very passionate about preserving our environment and often completes litter picks and beach clean ups. In 2019, Alyssa started making dog poo bag dispensers and placing them around her local area.

In 2020, inspired by a group in England, Alyssa started to collect crisp packet wrappers and turned them into survival blankets - completing over 200 blankets for homeless shelters so far.

She has now compiled these into survival care packages with survival blankets, socks, a hat, a toothbrush, toothpaste, biscuits and chocolates for those in need. In total, Alyssa has made 350 care packages and has even created some Christmas versions, these have been distributed to those in need around the UK.

The entire process of making a blanket takes her around an hour and a half. She starts by flattening the crisp packets out, washes and dries them, then uses an iron to bond them together. Alyssa also conducts workshops on making these thermal blankets from her home in Wales.

A pageant queen, she was crowned Miss Royal UK pre-teen 2022/2023, where her advocacy was a strong part of her campaign, and she will compete at the Royal International Pageants in Florida in 2023.

She wants to encourage everyone, but specifically the younger generation, to help save the environment.