An Interview With Katie Piper

What are the plans for the Katie Piper Foundation?

The aim of The Katie Piper Foundation is the delivery of intensive burns rehabilitation and specialist scar management. There is no such facility available at the present time and so the Foundation has funded the treatment of burn survivors at Centre Ster in France, where I was treated. One of them was 20 year old Catrin Pugh. She is a remarkable young lady, and the first in the world I believe to survive 96% burns. I met her just a few months after her accident and am so thrilled to see the incredible recovery she has made to date, aided by the treatment and care provided by Centre Ster We are currently scoping this project but believe a basic facility here in the UK could be achieved with as little as £250,000. Over 17% of this (£43k) was raised specifically for this through a charity appeal at a recent fundraising dinner – and raising the balance is our key fundraising focus for 2015. This is what I want to raise money for with my involvement in the Vitality World Triathlon London 2015. Why not sign up for one of The Katie Piper Foundation’s charity places and help us to make it easier to live with burns and scars.

What do you feel is your greatest achievement?

I would normally say setting up my Foundation, not only has it been rewarding to help others at the beginning of there journey where I once was but it has also restored my faith in society seeing just how many people want to help - the generosity and good will of the general public truly is fantastic.

How did you get into corporate speaking?

After lifting my anonymity and documenting my ordeal and subsequent recovery I became inundated with public speaking requests so decided that I would accept some and share not just my story but belief in positive thinking.

There is an issue with women and girls being judged for what they look like rather than their achievements. How do you think we can get better at this?

When you are a minority you do always feel like you have something to prove. Everyone wants to look good but now so much emphasis is based on that. Its important to look at all of these things as a package - its not healthy for any us to just draw on one strength all of our lives. TV, Magazines etc can make us feel like we are constantly surrounded by beautiful people we cant compete with but you must put this into perspective and know that it's not even that persons reality - most of these images are from professional shoots, using teams of hair, make up , styling etc and all polished off with photoshop.

What advice would you give to people wanting to get into the media?

Don't be discouraged by rejection, keep, going, keep learning and work hard.