Reece Tomlinson is used to speaking to crowds. In fact, he relishes it. But WE Day UK was different.

Normally, his audience is invisible—Nottinghamshire-area listeners tuned in to 106.9 Takeover Radio. Standing before the audience gathered in the SSE Arena in London, though, the 12,000 faces in the crowd—young change-makers hanging on his every word—stared back at him with excited anticipation.

“I believe that good health and well-being starts with a healthy diet,” the 15-year-old declared from the stage. A roar of cheers confirmed that the audience was with him. He continued with this speech, and there at WE Day UK, this budding social advocate told his story—a tale laden with lessons in healthy living. “I want to inspire people to be healthy and lead a good lifestyle,” Reece explains backstage at WE Day, the energy of the audience still coursing through him.

That’s where his school’s years-long Healthy Eating Campaign comes in.

Reece joined the campaign two years ago, becoming a Food Champion and taking a lead role in the movement. Trace his actions back to the beginning and you’ll find inspiration born of his community. Standing on the front steps of Sutton Community Academy, one sees fast food chains, chip shops and convenience stores in every direction. When the final bell rings, students make a beeline for the enticing eats littering the way home.

While Reece can’t wipe out the source of temptation when it comes to maintaining a healthy diet, he is determined to win the battle against junk food by amping up the allure of alternative food options.

Every day, Reece—along with his equally committed classmates—volunteers at the school canteen, preparing healthy alternatives to stock the cafeteria and vending machines—a central plank of the Healthy Eating Campaign. Now students can enjoy an apple over a bag of chips, nut bars rather than chocolate and, while pizza is still on the menu, it’s a smaller portion and loaded with vegetables.

When not in the kitchen, Reece is transforming eating habits by leading healthy eating presentations for both classmates and parents, on top of raising awareness through guest appearances on the community radio station.

As Sutton Community Academy educator Judith Graves shares, Reece’s actions couldn’t come at a more opportune time. In Sutton-in-Ashfield, a town in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire where the school is located, there were originally two poles of industry, she explains: coal mining and textiles. When they boomed, the town did well; when the mine closed down and the factories shuttered, unemployment and poverty followed.

Like food deserts across the United States, all over Reece’s town supermarkets closed and fast food restaurants popped up, offering more caloric bang-for-buck.

Today, the need for balanced living is pressing. “The community was hit hard on both levels,” says the teacher. “For us, this project isn’t just about health, it’s financial as well.”

Sutton Community Academy has a proud tradition of giving back. Involved with WE for two years now, its students support local food banks and raise money to help people undergoing cancer treatment. Inspired by WE Day UK last year, students voted to fundraise for and help build a school abroad in a WE Villages partner community; they selected Kenya and have held book sales, dance recitals and theatre performances to raise the money.

But Reece’s locally focused project is especially important, according to Judith. “One of the things we’re hoping for is that our students not only help other people, help other communities in other parts of the world, but that they learn to help themselves, to know they can make a difference,” she explains. “And Reece … he’s emerged as a leader.”

Next on the change-maker’s agenda: a school garden—a delicious edible resource to teach students and parents how to grow their own healthy snacks. This, like everything Reece does through the lens of the Healthy Eating Campaign, is meant to bring him one step closer to his dream of healthy snacks being as accessible as fast food. Until then, count on the teen changing his classmate’s habits one apple at a time.