Nabeelah's voluntary efforts recognised in House of Lords


An award-winning student volunteer has been named in the House of Lords for her hard work in the UK and abroad.

Nabeelah Omarjee was spotlighted by Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Chancellor of De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) during a debate which followed the Queen’s Speech last month.

INSET nabeelah

Nabeelah (centre) with her DMU Square Mile award

Nabeelah, who studies Psychology, has volunteered with projects as diverse as The C-Word, which supports cancer patients, worked with refugees, trained as a Diabetes Champion and helped save lives by encouraging new people to join the UK stem cell register.
 
Harare-born Nabeelah won the award for Best International Volunteer at the DMU Square Mile Awards, given to the international student who has worked tirelessly to improve Leicester for everyone.

Baroness Lawrence, of Clarendon, was speaking on the sixth day of debating following the Queen’s Speech when she raised the issue of higher education and, in particular, on the positive impact of international students who study in the UK.

Addressing the House, Baroness Lawrence said: “In my role as chancellor of De Montfort University, I have obtained some facts, and I would like to share with the House a case study on De Montfort students’ impact on the local community via DMU Square Mile.

“One-fifth—560—of its 2,800 student volunteers are international students. They have done more than 5,000 hours of work in the community this year.

“Nabeelah Omarjee is from South Africa. Nabeelah’s enthusiasm has seen her benefit hundreds of people by volunteering on a variety of projects in Leicester and abroad.

“By taking part in projects around cancer, refugee support, diabetes and more, Nabeelah has always been available to give anyone a helping hand.

“#DMUglobal is De Montfort’s pioneering international student experience programme, and demonstrates that DMU is committed to ensuring that its students have a global outlook.

“I must not forget DMU’s #LoveInternational campaign, which has celebrated the value that international students and staff bring to the UK.”

It was a proud moment for Nabeelah.

She said: “I was coming back to Leicester on the bus when I saw it had been shared to my Facebook page. I was speechless, I just read it and read it again and again.

“It just felt like a huge honour that out of however many thousands of students she mentioned me.

“There are so many students who volunteer and dedicate their time to helping others at DMU, I was honoured to be mentioned."                         

Posted on Thursday 6 July 2017

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