Helping young people feel safe, feel heard and feel hopeful for their future

Every week, our volunteer mentors are changing the lives of young people in Bath & North East Somerset. By being kind, listening, and spending just 1-2 hours a week having a bit of fun, our mentors help our young people feel safe, heard and hopeful for their future. 

In our latest volunteer mentor interview, we explore what it’s like to get started and how weekly volunteering positively impacts the wellbeing of both our mentees and mentors.

Mentoring Plus has partnered with Kingswood School to create a Peer Mentoring Programme between older students at Kingswood and those from Years 6-8. The results have brought clear benefits for pupils and for the school community.

A collaboration between Kingswood School and local youth charity Mentoring Plus has led to the introduction of a Peer Mentoring Programme in the school. This helps young people of all ages and from different communities to connect and is so popular that it is consistently oversubscribed.

The project was launched in January 2022, following the disruption and isolation caused by the pandemic. The idea was to harness Mentoring Plus’ 25 years of experience training volunteer mentors and supporting young people, and equip Kingswood pupils with the skills to mentor their fellow students in Year 7 and 8, and Year 6 students of neighbouring primary school, St Andrew’s.

Before volunteering with Mentoring Plus, I volunteered with young people from challenging backgrounds when I lived abroad. I grew up on a tough estate, and I wanted to give something back. It was really fulfilling and rewarding. Then, as a parent, I feel like an element of parenting is mentoring, and when you’ve gone through the cycle with your own children, I thought why stop there, when you can help others? 

So, when I saw a Mentoring Plus advert in Boston Tea Party calling for volunteers, I thought what the heck, I’ll give it a go.

We know that 1-2 hours a week with a Volunteer Mentor can be life-changing for a young person having a tough time. Having the undivided attention of a kind, empathetic adult who has chosen to spend time with them can make all the difference to a young person’s happiness and well-being. 

But what is it like to be a Volunteer Mentor? What’s involved? How does it impact our volunteers?

In this interview, one of our lovely Volunteer Mentors shines a light on their experience.