Announcing your 2023 Westfield Local Hero

We are excited to announce Saraswathi Sashi from Sewa Australia as your 2023 Westfield Local Hero for Parramatta!

Westfield is proud to award a community grant of $20K to help Saraswathi and Sewa Australia to continue to grow their impact in the local community

The 2023 Westfield Local Heroes program will award 126 grants across Australia and New Zealand – totalling $1.26 million to support local communities.

Nominations for the 2024 Westfield Local Heroes program are open now. If you know someone who's making an impact, nominate them as a Westfield Local Hero - nominate here.

Your 2023 Westfield Parramatta Local Hero is:

Saraswathi Sashi

Sewa Australia

Positive. Change-maker. Dedicated.

Inspirational Saraswathi Sashi dedicates her life to counselling and guiding local people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Saraswathi is a volunteer Life Coach and Holistic Counsellor at Sewa Australia, a non-profit organisation serving the community with humanitarian aid, disaster relief and community development programs.

Saraswathi works tirelessly for the entirely volunteer-run organisation, where she has helped hundreds of people over the past 25 years.

Through her compassionate face-to-face counselling, workshops, seminars and advocacy, Saraswathi makes a positive difference to people experiencing domestic violence, family disputes or teenage issues.

She is also a generous sharer of knowledge and has trained more than 20 community members to become counsellors.

It is not unusual for Saraswathi to spend 10 hours a day helping others. One day she could be helping a traumatised teenager overcome bullying at school. On another, she could be advocating for a family with an incarcerated parent. During crises like the Lismore floods, she is at the forefront of the relief efforts, providing much-needed emotional support.

Saraswathi feels validated to be nominated as a Westfield Local Hero. “I am immensely satisfied when I help families and communities in need, which is the greatest motivation for me to do more,” she says.

Sewa Australia will use its funds for volunteer training and various forms of client support.

We'd like to thank and acknowledge our finalists who will receive a $5K grant for the organisation they represent...

Josie Dincel from Ward Angels

Josie Dincel is the founder of Ward Angels, which provides toys, therapy equipment, toiletries, emergency clothing, food and financial support for families in Paramatta and across NSW. Josie has attracted a small team of dedicated volunteers from all walks of life. They enjoy seeing from start to finish how much their efforts are helping others.

Michael Campbell from WestWords

Michael Campbell is the Executive Director at WestWords, which promotes self-expression and is dedicated to celebrating and championing the people, places and cultures that comprise the heart of Western Sydney. The organisation creates employment for writers and runs hundreds of activities that have helped writers of all ages tell their stories.

If you need support, please phone Lifeline: 13 11 14