The Fellowship

Through the sheer luck and coincidence of bumping into an old acquaintance I came across a cry for help. I was presented with a brief for an organisation called the Fellowship of Australian Writers (WA).FAWWA is a not for profit organisation that provides support, advocacy, training and most of all friendship to Western Australia's writing community.

The once popular not for profit was founded in 1938 and at its highest point boasted over 1000 members. The organisation was thriving, constantly holding glamorous events attended by many prestigious writers and creative people. They also were putting out a well written and entertaining monthly magazine.

However for many reasons, over time the Fellowship lost its touch. Currently standing at 150 members, the president Trisha Kotai-Ewers and other members decided the fellowship was in need of young Public Relations students to volunteer and give the organisation a new youthful lease on life. I accepted this challenge and have been volunteering for over a month already, the organisation itself is on the verge of great change and it’s an exciting time to be involved with FAWWA.

The organisation can be found in Tom Collin’s house in Swanbourne. Tom Collins was a man called Joseph Furphy’s pen name. Joseph Furphy was a writer, well known for his novel ‘Such is Life’. He built the house by himself and later on the house was donated to FAWWA for use as their office.

The house is an incredible (and freezing) place to work. At lunch time all the volunteers, current writer’s in residence and anyone else who is hanging around is invited to sit in the dining room and have soup together. At this point everyone comes together and talks, jokes and shares stories which is an awesome way to exchange ideas and thoughts.

I don’t think I could have asked for a better placement, I am given tremendous responsibility and I am treated like a professional Public Relations practitioner not just a student. I am not given tasks or jobs instead I have to look for ways I can help the organisation myself and put those plans into action alone , it already has given me invaluable experience and I am sure there is plenty more to learn and my placement continues.