How it works (u18s)
Your school, college, youth group (our youth partner) will have asked a member of staff to act as our Mentoring Coordinator, and usually a few others will also be helping.
Some partners choose who they feel will benefit most, others invite students to let them know if they are interested – or even make a case for inclusion - and take it from there.
Your Mentoring Coordinator will set something up so you can give us the information we need and do some online training to help you understand more about what mentoring is and how to get the most out of it.
Matches between mentors and mentees are based on what you tell us about what you want from the mentoring relationship – what you most want help with, your goals and interests.
- Our mentors come from the local community and local businesses, and from a very wide range of backgrounds. They bring a whole range of professional and life experiences with them. And all of them have real world knowledge and experience they want to share.
We use the information in your profile to find you a mentor who should be a great fit for you… someone who’s told us they have experience and expertise in the areas you are looking for support in.
Before mentoring starts, you and your mentor will be invited to an induction session – run by us and your Mentoring Coordinator - to run through a few things and get you ready to meet each other.
After your first meeting, you’ll then meet once a month for about an hour for the next 6-9 months, or sometimes longer. When and where (online or face to face meetings – or a mixture of both) you meet - and how often/how many sessions – will have been sorted out with us by your Mentoring Coordinator – so there will be a set schedule that will be shared with you.
After your last session there’s usually an opportunity for everyone to recognise and celebrate the progress you’ve made!
"Mentoring means a lot to me because it shows that people are willing to take time out of their own lives to support kids, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Coming from where I did, it means the world that someone would invest their time to help me have a better, brighter future."