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.
Why did you become a volunteer mentor?
In my view, helping young people is one of the most important things you can do. I nearly went off the rails a bit when I was in my teens, but thanks to the support and encouragement of my loved ones, my life stayed on track. However, I’m aware that for some young people, this is not something they have.
When I returned to Bath from living and working away, I was looking for a volunteer role which would allow me to make a meaningful difference, but that had very clear and set boundaries. While I can control my own diary, and have the support of my employer to volunteer, I only have limited time each week.
Some friends of mine had told me about Mentoring Plus and the great work they were doing to support young people, so I got in touch.
What was it like getting started with Mentoring Plus?
Great! I had a phone call with the team and then an interview / meeting, before taking part in the two day training. It was very comprehensive and a great opportunity to meet other mentors and the team. The training takes place over two weekends, and it was good to have the week in between to absorb and reflect on everything we had learned. It also gave me time to decide whether volunteer mentoring was right for me.
Learning about Mentoring Plus’ mentoring model gave me a lot of confidence and assurance. In short, as a volunteer mentor your role is to spend time with your mentee, and you don’t need to carry or navigate the complexities of their background, as you aren’t given that information. If any red flags do arise during your time together, the Mentoring Plus team is available to help you and then support the young person.
What did your mentoring sessions involve?
My first mentee was quite a quiet young man aged 14. We hit it off during our first session and quickly established that he wanted me to organise the activities each week and did not want to be asked lots of questions.
Some of our favourite outings included Five Zeros in Bradford on Avon, which is a garage of supercars and an American themed café, and a trip to a very powerful photography exhibition at The American Museum. He loves art and culture, and really enjoyed it.
I got a lot of my ideas from the Mentoring Plus mentor newsletter and mentor socials, and then just keeping an eye on what was happening in Bath. The value of the sessions for him were clearly just to have some space to relax.
Did you encounter any challenges along the way?
I didn’t encounter any significant challenges. If there was anything that concerned me I would raise this with the Mentoring Plus team. From the training, and our regular meetings with our Practitioner, I knew it wasn’t for me to counsel or ‘fix’ what was going on with him.
You’re now mentoring for a second time, what’s it been like?
Great! Having the experience of the previous year has helped, and it’s going really well. We’re doing lots of different things together, such as bowling. We have gone to Five Zeros, as it’s just such a good place to go!
What would you say to someone thinking of becoming a volunteer mentor?
DO IT! Supporting a young person is one of the most important things you can do in life. It’s a commitment, but it’s very rewarding.
We need more kind and empathetic adults to join us and become volunteer mentors.
Our next round of training takes place on Saturday 5 and 12 October 10am-4pm at our Riverside Youth Hub (BA1 6AE) to find out more or sign-up click the button below.
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Mentoring Plus