Bella returns to the Champion Centre

Bella Lammers attended The Champion Centre as a baby and pre-schooler almost two decades ago. In July she returned to the Centre as part of a one-year internship programme. Project SEARCH is designed to give high school leavers with learning disabilities the work experience and skills they need to enter the workforce. Bella joined us for a 10-week internship where she very quickly became a valuable member of the team.

A number of long-serving staff remember Bella as a little girl when she came to the Champion Centre each week. This year, Bella was back as a colleague. Her tasks included setting up and clearing away morning tea trollies, stacking and unstacking the dishwasher, cleaning equipment and toys from the playroom, as well as sorting out the linen. Bella quickly learned the tasks required and carried them out with aplomb, freeing up time for other staff members to focus more on their roles.

Bella, now 19, worked every week day from 10am-2pm, catching the bus from home in Rolleston at 6.30am. She was very dedicated to the job and told us she loves the friendly atmosphere at the Champion Centre. “Everyone talks to me, and they miss me when I’m not here.” Staff thoroughly enjoying having Bella on the team – not only for the work she did, but she was such a friendly, cheerful person to be around. Now her internship has come to an end, Bella is right, we do miss her. 

Based on an international school-to-work transition programme, Project Search Canterbury is a collaborative model supported by Canterbury DHB and a steering committee. The interns participate in an hour of classroom instruction each morning at a Burwood-based classroom, before attending their internship roles. A skills trainer assists with job-skills training at the internship site. The internships are mainly based at Burwood Hospital and students generally complete three 10-week internship rotations within the nine-month period. This provides an opportunity to learn what type of work best suits their interests and areas of aptitude.
We wish Bella well for her next internship.

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