Huge congratulations are in order for Bachelor of Social Work student Anastasia Lee Read, who was recently named a recipient of a 2019 Churchill Fellowship.
Anastasia is a Wiradjuri woman and is from Western New South Wales although she currently resides in South Australia. Anastasia is set to begin her third year of her social work degree in 2020 and explains her drive to further her skills in this field has developed from already working for the Child Protection department and finding a real purpose in this type of role. She states for her social work is about making connections with people, getting to genuinely know them for who they are in all their entirety, embracing both their strengths and weaknesses and to be able to support them through challenges in their lives. She further explains she choose social work as a way to firstly get the social capital of a degree and secondly, to support positive change in her community through advocacy and standing up for those who are oppressed and disadvantaged.
The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust was set up in memory of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965 with the trusts aim to provide an opportunity for talented and deserving Australians to travel overseas and conduct research in their chosen field allowing further opportunity to pursue excellence for the enrichment of Australian society.
There was a number of steps Anastasia had to complete prior to being selected for the fellowship. She firstly attended an information session followed by making an online application detailing the aim of her project and why the research needed to be conducted overseas. From this she was then shortlisted, and an interview was held in Adelaide where she had 5 minutes to pitch her idea to a round table of 10 people (what a scary but great experience!) from here she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship.
In 2020 Anastasia will travel over 6 weeks to; Sweden, Belgium, USA and Canada, to investigate family preservation programs in child protection space for Aboriginal families. She also aims to explore the mechanisms that allow for change to occur as well as aiming to visit First Nations communities where there are current programs that are already creating change amongst people within the communities, especially around family preservation. Upon return she will complete a report to the Churchill Trust that details her findings and recommendations.
Anastasia says the people she has already met through the Churchill trust have all been so supportive and encouraging of her succeeding and striving for positive change. We here at Deakin University also cannot wait to see you succeed and make a difference!
Anastasia Read has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship