Harina Basra, who has worked as Education Officer for the last two-and-a-half years, has landed a new role with the University of Birmingham, but will leave with a heavy heart after thoroughly enjoying her time with the Foundation.
“It has been a fantastic couple of years,” says Harina. “I have got to experience so many great things, worked on some really amazing projects and met some lovely people.
“In a way I have done things that people could only dream of – meeting players, working at Molineux and only recently being able to wish Nuno a happy birthday when I was on the photo for the Feed Our Pack launch!
“Most importantly I have really enjoyed the opportunity of contributing to such a well-known and loved organisation which does so much amazing work in the community.”
One particular project which Harina headed up and which the Foundation are going to aim to further develop is their involvement in the NCS (National Citizen Service), a voluntary initiative for 16 and 17-year-olds which helps them to work together and engage with their communities in beneficial social action projects.
Harina has driven the Foundation’s involvement in NCS activities, which have adapted during the pandemic so that they could continue to take place.
Most recently, participants worked with the Canal and River Trust to help preserve and enhance some local outdoor spaces, having also carried out similar work at Aldersley Leisure Village while it was being used as a food hub for the community during lockdown.
These were adapted activities which took place as a planned summer residential for over 150 young people had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.
“Having unfortunately had to cancel that residential we were pleased to be able to deliver some form of NCS programme during the pandemic, and carried out two initiatives working with the City of Wolverhampton College,” Harina explains.
“NCS has certainly been a massive highlight of my time with the Foundation because it had never been done at Wolves before and because of what the programme stands for.
“It gives young people the opportunity to push themselves out of their comfort zone and try new things which is something I really feel passionate about and is important for their development.
“It was a big challenge to put together, but it has been a great project all round, and still has so much more potential to develop further.
“It is all about providing young people with new opportunities and experiences to help shape their future and I know that the Foundation will make sure it continues to go from strength to strength.”
Prior to NCS, Harina had also been leading on a Premier League Works project centred about employability and helping people of all ages to prepare themselves for work.
The success stories from that initiative include Lamar Fletcher, who has progressed to be employed as a casual coach at the Foundation whilst studying on the degree course run in conjunction with the University of South Wales.
“That was another really good project for me as I hadn’t worked with these groups of people before – it really pushed me and I had to think outside the box,” added Harina, who has also been the Foundation’s representative on the Young Citizen Awards run by Wolverhampton’s Rotary Clubs.
“Working with these diverse groups I had to think how I could engage people to get them interested and delivered a range of different activities to help them develop their skills and figure out their next steps.
“Lamar was part of the very first cohort who attended the PL Works project, and to see how his journey has progressed knowing he started out on one of my projects has been amazing!”
Harina admits she had never even been to Molineux before landing her opportunity with the Foundation, and the charity’s Education and Skills Manager Jonny Warburton viewed that as something of a positive to be part of a range of staff with very different interests.
“What was maybe different about Harina coming to work for the Foundation is that she didn’t really have that football background which you often associate with our staff,” Jonny explains.
“It meant she had a nice and unique perspective of what we did, and showed the importance of the Foundation opening its doors to new and talented people with different qualities and strengths.
“Harina has done some really excellent work with the Employability programme, NCS and all the projects which she has been involved in.
“She has been diligent, hard-working, and very dedicated to her role and has done a fantastic job for us.
“So while we are sad to see her go and wish her all the very best with her next opportunity, it is also very important for us to now build on the foundations of the work that she has done and make sure we continue to take these projects forward.
“We are now finalising our summer NCS programmes with details being announced over the coming weeks including information about joining and we are looking forward to continuing the success of the initiative and getting more and more young people involved with social action in their community.”
For Harina, whilst also looking forward to her new role, there is certainly mixed feelings as she bids farewell to the Foundation.
“I am going on to a great new opportunity but the thing I will miss most about the Foundation is the team of people I have worked with,” she explains.
“Everyone at the Foundation cares so much about what they do, and it has been so nice to have been able to work around people who thrive in in that environment - it rubs off on everyone.
“That is what makes it such a fantastic place to work and I am excited to see how they continue to take all these projects forward in the future.”
