Recently crowned Miss World Australia, 24-year-old Sophie Lavers has chosen Oasis as her charity and is committed to giving real meaning to the pageant's 'beauty with a purpose' ethos. So far she has raised nearly $50 000 and regularly helps at the Street Level café and on the SOS food van.
"I moved to Sydney 21/2 years ago from Canberra and was living right near Kings Cross," recalls Sophie, explaining how she got interested in the issue. "Just walking through there every day I was exposed to all the homeless people and it shocked me because I'd never seen anything like it and I didn’t think I could do anything to help."
"When I was crowned Miss World Australia I knew I had a platform to launch off!" she enthuses. "Those people who just walk along the street without even registering that homeless people exist – I want to wake them up! I want to get as many people as possible involved. There needs to be a national and global recognition of the problem."
Though Sophie herself comes from a loving and supportive family, her life hasn’t exactly been smooth. “I’ve been through quite a few things in life. When I was 16 my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer and my dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer – he died a month later. It was a very hard time – I was close to going off the rails. Luckily my family – I have 3 great brothers – all pulled together."
"When I was 20 I went through another very rough patch," she continues. "I could have seen myself ending up on the streets or even worse - not being here at all. Thankfully I had support unlike most of the kids at Oasis. It’s one of the worst things ever to be all alone when you’re going through hard times."
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