A minute with Phoebe Coles Humanitarian, Activist, Founder of Vicinus, Co-Founder of Bubble Out

Where do you live and with whom?
I live in London, UK with my boyfriend.

What did you have for breakfast?
Today I had a yoghurt with banana chocolate flakes.

Describe your perfect day
A peaceful world with no more human suffering. The earth is in recovery. My perfect day is surrounded by nature, love, friends and family.

Best book ever read? Why?
I would say the Harry Potter series, because it really captured my imagination when I was younger and got me to love reading. Hermione Granger was a great role model for many women as a character, including me!

Best childhood memory?
My favourite childhood memory is when my family and I stayed at a bed and breakfast place with the view of Porthcurno beach in Cornwall. It was beautiful! It was secluded and peaceful, and an amazing place to explore.

What is always in your fridge?
My answer is quite boring, I always have butter in my fridge. I am not so consistent with what food I buy. However, in my cupboard I always have HP sauce and olive oil – a great reflection of my mixed heritage (English and Cypriot).

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
I am listening to a lot of Celtic, folk music at the moment.

What is your favourite animal? And why
My favourite animal is the donkey. I love donkeys, they remind me of my beloved Cyprus. When I was studying at UCLan Cyprus, on my lunch break I would go to the donkeys living nearby and feed them apples.

What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of being a part of the incredible Cypriot youth activism sphere. We are working collectively towards a prosperous, equal, successful, peaceful and reunited island. I recently was awarded a Global Youth Award for my contributions to ’empowering change’ via my advocacy work with my social action groups ‘Vicinus’ and ‘Bubble Out’.

What movie scene has really stayed with you? And why
In the first Hunger Games movie, the moments leading up to the end of the games really stayed with me. The rules were rigged against them, there had to be one winner. By threatening to take the poisonous berries together in a brave act of defiance against an oppressive system, they proved that they could change the fate of the participants of the game and gave hope to people living in the outer districts.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
I would love to see my Yiayia Niki, who sadly passed away a few years ago. It would be lovely to catch up and note down her amazing recipes!

If you could time travel when/where would you go?
I would go to the beginning of time, to know how the universe came to be.

What is your greatest fear?
My greatest fear is the feeling of being trapped.

What would you say to your 18-year-old self?
I would say that you (just like everyone else), have your own personal timeline to where you wish to be in the future (career wise etc), go at your own pace – and live in the present!

Name the one thing that would stop you dating someone
Prejudice towards anyone!

If the world is ending in 24 hours what would you do?
I would meet my friends and family and we would chill together and maybe watch a movie and eat snacks! Spending time with our loved ones is the most important thing.