Helen Morton has been recognised for her outstanding contribution to the UWA McCusker Centre for Citizenship’s internship program, through which she has provided students with opportunities to support meaningful work in community and aged care.
Ms Morton was one of three individual supervisors celebrated at the Centre’s end-of-year event today and was presented with a certificate of appreciation by McCusker Charitable Foundation Directors the Honourable Malcolm McCusker AC CVO KC CitWA and Judge Denis Reynolds AM, and Professor Tim Colmer, UWA Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
She supervised her first intern in 2021, and has now hosted 5 interns, mostly through her work with the Pingelly Somerset Alliance, a volunteer-run organisation that oversees the provision of community housing for the aged in Pingelly.
“When the Pingelly Somerset Alliance Inc received funding to pilot a new model of home based aged care called Staying in Place, we needed added research skills, marketing and promotional experience, event planning, and more. The interns have given us a significant boost in these areas and injected new knowledge, experience and enthusiasm for our staff and volunteers to bring this innovative and sustainable project to fruition,” Ms Morton said.
“The McCusker Centre interns have been an invaluable resource, improving the lives of elderly people in 45 other rural and remote communities in WA as Staying in Place continues to expand. Equally, we make sure that each intern has a memorable time, learning about life in Pingelly, interacting with the local people and their rural, wheat and sheep farming lifestyle. Some have stayed on farms and helped with sheep work or taken a turn on the high tech broad acre harvester. We believe the interns are able to better support people living in small, rural communities when they start their chosen profession.
“It’s a win-win outcome. We look forward to the enjoyable experience of getting to know each new intern coming to Pingelly,” she said.
More than 3,600 internships have now been undertaken through the program, the only one of its kind in Australia. Michelle Scott OAM, McCusker Chair in Citizenship at UWA and Director of the Centre, said that the growth and success of the program owed much to the commitment of professionals like Ms Morton to providing students with meaningful and inspiring internship experiences.
“Internship supervisors like Helen give generously of their time and experience to support students in realising how their skills, knowledge and passion can be put to use to the benefit of communities in WA and beyond,” Ms Scott said.
“Helen exemplifies the expertise and enthusiasm of the best supervisors who help deliver our internship program. We are grateful for her demonstrated commitment to the learning and development of caring, civic-minded students, and the opportunities she has provided students with to learn about community work in regional WA.”
Image: Professor Tim Colmer, Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor, UWA, His Honour Judge Denis Reynolds, The Hounourable Malcolm McCusker AC CVO KC CitWA, and Helen Morton at a McCusker Centre for Citizenship Outstanding Ievent on 10 October, 2024 at the University of Western Australia.