I was diagnosed with severe OCD at 15 but became a Corrie star, now I want to improve Gen Z's mental health
Ella Grace Gregoire, from Warton, has been appointed as a 'Leader for Big Change' to speak about mental health on behalf of young people.
Twenty-five-year-old year old Ella Grace will be representing Gen Z in front of government ministers, UN delegates, NGOs, and activists pushing forward real progress on mental health education, women's health and equality.
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Her project Her-izons is co-designing preventative and relational wellbeing approaches with and for girls and young women - especially around the effects of growing up with social media.
Ella Grace was a child star, playing Grace Piper in Coronation Street in 2013. She gave up professional acting because of ill health, and has since devoted her time to helping young people improve their mental health and wellbeing, inspired by her own lived experience.
She explains: "My new mission is to collate data from Gen Z people about what it's really like to grow up with phones, AI, social media, and then take it to the people in power who are quite disconnected to the reality that these young people are facing."
Ella's mission to help young women with their mental health started when she was diagnosed with severe OCD at 15. "I felt like I didn't really have any support from the system. I was instantly offered medication, without any foundational help. That's what I'm so passionate about, offering prevention and cure rather than just masking the symptoms.
"I want to help change the system that wasn't there for me."
Ella and her family also run Streetwise, a youth and community centre also in Warton, Lancashire, as well as offering wellbeing mentoring to young people.