Our Mentors
Our Volunteer and Professional Mentors are kind and empathetic people, who are trained and supported by us, to spend time with you each week and give you the space you need.
Our Mentors come from all walks of life, and they all want to be there for you and support you.
When you are matched with a mentor they will:
- Meet with you each week - for 1-2 hours (depending on how old you are) either during school hours or at a time to suit you (Monday-Friday)
- Support and encourage you to explore your interests and try new activities
- Listen, be kind, and not judge
It's up to you to choose how you spend your time together each week, and with our activities budget, you can try new things and have some fun too.
One of the best ways to get a real feel for what it's like to be mentored, is to watch our short video. You'll hear from our Mentors and mentees about their experience, and how it's helped to change their lives.
Getting started
Hearing about mentoring for the first time
You may hear about mentoring for the first time from a teacher, care worker or another adult who knows you. They will tell you that having a Mentor can help you feel:
- More confident and build your self esteem
- Better about school
- You have the space to talk about things, without any pressure
If we can enrol you into our mentoring programme, a member of our expert team will get in touch with your family (or your responsible adult).
We will explain more about what to expect and make absolutely sure it’s something both you and your family / responsible adults want.
You can say no, if you don't feel it's the right time or right thing for you.
Getting to know you
What information will we ask for?
We will ask about things we need to know, like medical issues and ways to keep you safe. Our team will usually make a short home visit to introduce Mentoring Plus, ask for this information and make sure everyone is consenting to getting involved with the programme.
What happens if I say yes to being mentored?
If all goes ahead, the next thing to happen is you will meet the your practitioner (one of the expert members of our team), usually several times over a few weeks.
It might be a visit to a local café, playing a board game or a walk in the neighbourhood. Your practitioner will get to know you, and help you explain you're feeling and what you hope to get from mentoring.
Meeting your mentor
Your practitioner will spend one or two sessions with you and your mentor, helping you get to know each other and make plans together.
We work hard to carefully match our mentees and mentors, and usually they hit it off right away. But you can say if you don’t think it’s the right match for you and we will find another mentor for you.
If you do get on well, then your practitioner will go through an agreement with both of you. It’s simple but important, including;
- when you will meet
- what you can and can’t do
- how you will communicate and rules to keep everyone safe
What happens next?
Weekly mentoring sessions after that are just you and your mentor.
Each week you'll have a think about your interests and what you would like to do together. We provide an activities budget, so together, you can make the most of each session.
You might cook together, play sport, do a craft activity, go for a walk somewhere, try something new like climbing, or go to a café.
How we support our mentors and mentees
Our team is available 9am-9pm Monday-Friday to be on hand should you or your mentor need any additional support.
We will keep in regular contact with your mentor and regularly meet up with both of you. We will chat about how it has been, notice and feed back on positive steps and plan for what you want to do next.
If there are any concerns, your mentor will be able to contact our team, and we will step in to help.
Most mentoring relationships last up to 12 months, and your practitioner will help you prepare for the end of your time together.