It was a very surreal surprise to open my email the other day to discover that I had been nominated and put forward as one of Norfolk's 100 Most inspiring Women! To be nominated is one thing, but to be chosen among many inspiring women in my opinion is another, Thank you for believing in the causes that I continue to fight for. https://www.edp24.co.uk/features/100-most-inspiring-women-in-norfolk-1-6294621

Milly J Shoes is just up the round from The UK'S oldest Hotel, the decadent, Maids Head Hotel. A hotel steeped in history and with a great award winning track record. With a similar ethos, Milly J Shoes is delighted to be working closely with the hotel.

Milly J Shoes can be seen in the grand foyer as well as a series of fun and engaging upcoming footwear workshops! The Maids Head has certainly looked after Milly J!

Milly J is excited to announce that she has been shorlisted for two prestigious Drapers Footwear Awards. The Drapers awards are one of the biggest awards that recognise the industry. Being alongside some behemoths of the industry is a true honour!

She is nominated as the Footwear Designer of the Year and The Best Sustainability Initiative of the Year. The second being her campaign to reduce the footwear landfill implications.

I am committed to trying to help the next generation find their own, unique sense of self. Doing this by creating mini projects, working on their confidence skills through speech, language, music and drama to instilling the importance of creativity.

I mentor at North Walsham High school and I organised for my group of 13 year olds to visit the East Anglia Air Ambulance. Taking them away from their phones and ipads and seeing what else lay in this world beyond social media and texting! On my day off, some of my mentees and I visited their base and were greeted by the paramedics, doctors, pilots and of course the CEO, Patrick Peal.

The stories were inspiring and they certainly managed to get through to my group. I am excited to take another lot of mentees to the base in the future.

To folow on from our, "Footwear Footprint" story, I was delighted to be contacted by Norfolk's Heart Radio division. The story was aired on radio and in their news feeds.

Following on from the great news in the EDP Newspaper!

I’m on the campaign to reduce the landfill implications within the footwear industry with 330 million pairs in the uk alone manufactured a year with most of these ending up in landfill. One pair takes 50 years to decompose with gases and toxins released into our atmosphere due to the manmade materials in use. The way forward is upcyling. Transforming the pairs you don’t wear or old shoes into new designs. Putting off the landfill destiny for another few years! Fast fashion is an issue.

I was invited by news anchor, Susie Fowler-watt to be interviewed on the BBC Look East news couch this week! This was in light to my new campaign - Footwear Footprint..

They filmed in the shop and then interviewed me for the evening news. I’m on the campaign to reduce the landfill implications within the footwear industry with 330 million pairs in the uk alone manufactured a year with most of these ending up in landfill. One pair takes 50 years to decompose with gases and toxins released into our atmosphere due to the manmade materials in use. The way forward is upcyling. Transforming the pairs you don’t wear or old shoes into new designs. Putting off the landfill destiny for another few years! Fast fashion is an issue.

Milly was invited as an “industry expert” by the BBC for The BBC Apprentice with my designs and clips sent to the team as inspiration, the winning team used the interchangeable clip idea.

Last night the, Milly J Ming Dynasty Teapot Shoe makes an appearance too!

BBC Radio stalwart, Chrissy Jackson is an enthusiastic footwear follower and apparently was kicking herself when Matthew Gudgin invited Milly J onto his show first!

If the interview is still available, you can find it on the BBC iPlayer and looking up the Chrissy Jackson Show. Milly talks to Chrissy extensively about her life, trends and business.

Matthew Gudgin - is one of the main BBC Norfolk Radio hosts, runs a Tuesday guest slot whereby the team choose an individual within Norfolk to be interviewed. The surprsing part is that all theguests have made contributuons to Norfolk life and have indeed had interesting lives thus far!

It is also considered to be the, "Desert Island Discs" of Norfolk. Choosing just 6 songs was a hard feat to achieve!

You can listen to my interview here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06lrx8m