FAQs - U18 mentees
Q. What type of young person is it designed to support?
1MM’s approach to mentoring is designed to work for everyone. Wherever you are starting from, however you feel about things now and wherever you want to go.
We focus on offering mentoring to young people who aren’t getting a fair chance to fulfil their potential and play a positive role in their community. Young people who don’t have family, friends or colleagues able to act as mentors in the way they’d want.
So, the type of young person 1MM mentoring is designed to support is… every young person who wants encouragement, support, and guidance from a trained, trusted adult.
Q How long does my profile, the training and the pre-programme surveys take?
It depends on the individual but it’s usually between 30 and 40 minutes in total.
Q Can I have a specific type of mentor – for someone ‘like me’
Connecting people from different backgrounds is good for the individuals (it introduces different ideas and viewpoints) and it’s good for society (it promotes better social cohesion and justice). At 1MM we are proud of our ability to match mentors and mentees across difference.
That’s why we train our mentors to connect with young people with whom they do not obviously share the same personal characteristics or career path – and to find common interests as well as offering new perspectives.
If there is a reason why you need a specific type of mentor, then please inform your Mentoring Coordinator who will discuss your requirements with us prior to matching
Q How long does it take to be matched with a mentor and to start mentoring?
This depends on how your school, college, youth group wants to go about things.
Some partners arrange things so that you will do your profile, training and survey and then go ‘immediately’ into your induction session followed straight away by your first meeting with your mentor. So, it’s literally 2 or 3 hours.
Other partners prefer to have a bit of time between mentees completing their profile, training and survey, and the induction session and first meeting. In these cases, it would be unusual for the process to take longer than a month, and it’s usually done in a week or two.
Q Can I talk with/send messages to my mentor outside of our meetings?
No. Mentees who are on a programme that includes under 18s can only have direct contact with their mentor during official mentoring meetings. If there is something you feel it is essential that you share with your mentor outside if these supervised sessions, talk to your Mentoring Coordinator to see if they can pass it on.
Q Where can I meet my mentor?
You can only meet with your mentor through the meetings that have been scheduled, set up and are supervised by your school, college, youth group. Whether you are meeting face-to-face, or meeting in a breakout room online, you will always need to be onsite in the space your Mentoring Coordinate has arranged for the mentoring sessions.
Q What do I do if I have a concern about my mentor’s behaviour?
If you have a concern, report it immediately to your mentoring coordinator.
Q What do I do if I’m not getting along with my mentor?
It can take a couple of sessions to get used to having a mentor, so we would always advise to give it at least three sessions. If you still feel it is not working, talk to your Mentoring Coordinator.
Q. Do mentors get paid?
No. 1MM Mentor is a voluntary role and our programmes are offered free of charge.
Q How long do mentoring relationships usually last and can I keep in touch with my mentor after the end of the programme?
Most 1MM mentoring programmes set up with a youth partner start in October, February or May and last between 6 and 9 months (but you will have between 9 and 12 mentoring sessions scheduled and sometimes there will be a gap across e.g. the summer holiday).
You will have no further contact with your mentor after the programme ends unless your school, college, youth project asks for the programme to continue for longer i.e. ‘go again’.