The Little Issue

Words by Narelle Mulrooney

If there is one student who epitomises the values of Loreto College it is Matilda Goodbourn, a Year 7 student, who was recently selected as the Fred Hollows Humanity Junior Ambassador for Victoria during late 2022 for her work as the editor of ‘The Little Issue’, a children’s magazine that focuses on social justice and environmental issues.

Matilda began ‘The Little Issue’ at the age of eight after seeing ‘The Big Issue’, a magazine targeted to adults - an independent, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and creating work opportunities for people experiencing homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage. She immediately saw there was an opportunity to create a similar magazine targeted to kids

‘I saw a vendor selling “The Big Issue”, a magazine that supports homeless and disadvantaged people. I love reading, so I asked Mum if I could buy one. She explained “The Big Issue” was for adults and I thought that there should be one for kids too’ she explained ‘Kids should know about the issues facing our community too.’

Matilda immediately went to work, travelling to Melbourne to interview the editor of ‘The Big Issue’, Amy Hetherington, who showed her how to create a storyboard, explained sound bites and helped plan the magazine. Matilda then set about interviewing a variety of people, creating content for her magazine, overcoming the hurdles and challenges that come with creating a publication.

‘Once we had everything we wanted in the first edition, it was time to lay it out like a magazine. It took help from teachers and family to get it right. One teacher put in a lot of time to help finish the first edition.’

Matilda has since created four more editions of the magazine, selling them at school assemblies, at the school office and cafes around Ballarat. All the proceeds from ‘The Little Issue’ go towards the Soup Bus in Ballarat, which supports those in our community who are homeless or less fortunate. The Soup Bus provides meals, haircuts, blankets, school supplies and more.

As the winner of the Fred Hollows Humanity – Junior Ambassador Award for Victoria, Matilda was awarded $5000 to donate to any part of the foundation. Matilda chose to give the money to The Fred Hollows Foundation’s work in Vietnam as she felt a connection with this charity. Her grandmother worked as a nurse in Vietnam and Matilda felt it was important to support a cause that was close to her heart.

In Vietnam, many people still don’t have access to basic eye care. While eye care in Vietnam has drastically improved over the past 25 years, in regional provinces many people live in relative poverty and don’t have access to basic eye care. Without outreach programs like the ones provided by The Fred Hollows Foundation, many families are not able to financially aid treatment for their loved ones. For more information on the Fred Hollows Foundation visit: www.hollows.org/au/home

Matilda has settled well into Loreto College life, signing up for everything she can. She has joined the Loreto Lark team – a student-run publication focusing on the students at Loreto College. ‘I’ve loved meeting the people I interview” she said, “I enjoy the whole process of publishing –interviewing, writing the stories and seeing it all come together’. While Matilda is not quite sure if publishing and editing is a career goal just yet, it is certainly high on the list.

Matilda is making a real difference in the local and global community, showing us that there are innovative ways to have a positive impact in the world. Keep an eye out for the next edition of ‘The Little Issue’, due for release soon.