Fiona’s gift helps social workers to help others
#Philanthropy@UC A young woman who cared about people and held a strong sense of social justice has created a powerful legacy for Social Work students at the University of Canterbury.
Fiona Leeves graduated UC with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and started her third year of study for a Bachelor of Social Work in 2006.
But, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour in August of that year and returned home to Sandspit, Warkworth, where her parents Chris and Raewyn Leeves cared for her until she died in 2007, aged 22.
In 2009 Chris and Raewyn established the Fiona Leeves Memorial Prize to help other students succeed in a career their daughter would have loved to pursue.
The $6000 prize is awarded each year to a Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury Applied Masters or Honours Social Work student in recognition of research contributions identifying characteristics of leadership in Social Work.
Raewyn says Fiona was very interested in research but she was a real people person as well.
