Contributed by Jiang Fengyan Laura, Journalist @ WSC Publicity & Publications
Being one of the largest student organisations in Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Welfare Services Club (WSC) provides students opportunity to uplift communities through voluntary activities and social work.
Founded in 1985, NTU WSC has grown tremendously in terms of membership and number of voluntary projects that target different communities in Singapore. It currently manages 9 Regular Service Projects (RSPs) serving the Deaf, Elderly, Children of Low-income Families, Children with Chronic or Terminal Diseases, Intellectually Disabled, People with Mental Health Issues, Physically Challenged, Visually Handicapped and Youths-at-risk. Every week, enthusiastic volunteers lend a helping hand to these communities at various locations.
In addition, WSC runs 5 Special Projects and 5 Supporting Committees. The Special Projects are Camp OutReach, Challenge ur Limits, Ignite Change, Overseas Volunteering Expedition and Volunteer Movement and they engage both local and foreign service users. The Supporting Committees include Admin & Liaison, Finance, Growth & Opportunities!, Internal Relations and Publicity and Publications, and they lend operational support to WSC. Special Project and Supporting Committees volunteers acquire essential expertise in entrepreneurship, event management, planning, teamwork and many more.
Read on to get to know all about NTU WSC — its new year resolutions, to exciting updates on upcoming events directly from Jessie, the club’s president!
- What is NTU WSC about?
WSC is a non-academic constituent club and one of the big 4 clubs in NTU that provides an umbrella of voluntary activities for the NTU community. There are 19 portfolios in WSC that are categorized into Regular Service Projects (RSPs), Special Projects (SPs) and Supporting Committees (SCs). RSPs have volunteering sessions held weekly for the Social Services Organisation (SSO), SPs focus on their annual events and SCs support every other aspect of WSC’s operation.
We partner with numerous SSOs to serve different social groups. If you are a WSC member, there are many volunteering opportunities lined up for you! As part of the WSC family, you get to meet new friends from other portfolios through many WSC-wide events.
- What are your new year resolutions for WSC?
Considering the Covid-19 pandemic, many of our volunteering and social activities were shifted online. My new year resolution for WSC is for all portfolios to keep up their good work by planning even more events to keep our volunteers engaged despite safe-distancing measures.
Although terms such as “new normal” might sound cliché, we need to accept them while supporting and assisting those in the community who are struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope that WSC can continue to expand and extend our helping hands to those in need.
- Any exciting updates on upcoming events?
Drum roll… YES! We have events organised by all portfolios all year round. However, due to the unprecedented Covid-19 restrictions, we will not be able to extend event invitations to the entire NTU community or the public to volunteer with us. We hope that Singapore’s COVID-19 situation improves and that we will be able to resume all of our volunteering activities.
Sneak peek — you may look forward to a brand new “WSC” in the near future. Stay tuned to WSC Instagram or Telegram @ntuwsc for more updates!