You will get to support someone to make a difference to their life, whether it be big or small, and help them to feel confident and in control.
We are a small organisation working with adults who are vulnerable or at risk of offending. We offer them focus, encouragement and support through regular meetings with volunteer mentors.
You will receive training before you start mentoring and you will have an experienced supervisor to guide and support you through the mentoring. You will only be asked to support people who you feel comfortable with. You will be given information about the mentee and you will be able to decide whether you would like to mentor that person.
You will take part in our induction training which happens three times a year. It involves three training sessions of 1-2 hours on Zoom in the early evening. You will have an initial informal interview so that we can get to know you. After that you can choose when you mentor. We can arrange mentoring around our holidays, provided you tell us about them in advance.
A person needing support is matched with a volunteer mentor. The mentor and mentee will agree on some specific goals that the service user would like to achieve. Meetings take place roughly once a week, in a convenient place for up to 16 weeks. This is usually in a cafe. We will pay for refreshments for you and the person you are mentoring. Each week the mentor and service user agree on something to discuss or an activity that helps the service user work towards their goal, e.g. going to job centre, filling in a form.
You will have a supervisor who is an experienced professional used to working with people in difficulties. They will introduce you to the person you mentor. They will contact you each week and meet you regularly to talk about your mentoring and provide any advice you need.
You will have the opportunity to choose the person you mentor. We will suggest a possible mentee and you can decide whether you feel comfortable with that person.