UWA’s McCusker Centre for Citizenship student Niray Shah has contributed 100 hours towards the valuable work being done at Wanslea, a not-for-profit organisation that works to promote the wellbeing and development of children and families across metropolitan and regional WA.
Niray, who is studying History, Political Science and International Relations, undertook the project through an internship with UWA’s McCusker Centre for Citizenship.
“I knew most of the McCusker Centre for Citizenship internships were done with organisations that work to improve the lives of the people within their communities, and I thought that helping them would be a great way to use my winter break,” said Niray.
Niray’s project at Wanslea saw him develop resources that provide assistance and guidance to regional staff on how to deliver programs so that the communities they work with can benefit as much as possible.
"The specific project that Niray worked on has assisted three Regional Programs and three Mental Health Programs through the development of procedural Handbooks for the staff working in those program areas,” said internship supervisor and Wanslea Manager of Quality and Compliance, Peigi Hinton.
“The highlight of the internship was learning about the communities that Wanslea work with and the issues that they face, and knowing that I was helping, even if it was in a small way, to improve the services being provided to them felt very rewarding to me,” said Niray.
The experience was full of learnings for Niray, with this being his first experience in an office environment, as well as having recently moved to Australia from the UK.
“I had to adjust to the working environment and very quickly learn as much as possible about the work that Wanslea does,” said Niray.
“I hadn’t learnt a lot about regional Australia before moving here, and learning about the regional communities that Wanslea work with was very interesting and eye-opening for me,” he said.
The Wanslea team were thankful for Niray’s “invaluable” support.
“Having McCusker Centre for Citizenship Interns focusing on these projects saves us months of work! They truly have a positive impact in our organisation and in the community at large,” said Peigi.
Niray says he would recommend the McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship program to other students.
“Doing an internship like this gives you an experience that is unique. Seeing the positive impact that you can have, however small, makes it feel worth it,” he says.