Mentoring Training Opportunities - September 2021

The Island • September 9, 2021
Child being mentored by a fully trained volunteer mentor

With the new academic school year back in full swing, we're now looking to recruit more volunteer mentors.  Our volunteer mentors play an integral part in our work to help enhance the confidence, self-esteem and resilience levels of the children and young people who use our services.


The pandemic has resulted in us receiving a higher number of referrals, which means we now need to recruit more volunteer mentors.


On Thursday 23 September and Thursday 30 September, between 5:30pm and 8.30pm, we'll be hosting our next round of mentoring training sessions at our office at Beverley House (based in Shipton Road) for which we would like to invite you to attend. 


The two three-hour sessions will equip you with the skills and knowledge you require to get you started on your mentoring journey. The evenings will consist of a meet and greet session with The Island mentoring services team, PowerPoint presentations and practical exercises. Refreshments will also be available throughout the evening.

How do I express my interest in attending the mentoring training sessions?

If you have decided that you would like to become a volunteer mentor with us, then thank you! Mentoring is really rewarding and has proven to help children and young people to take positive steps forward.


STEP ONE

To express your interest in becoming a mentor with us, you will need to download our application form and provide us with some information about yourself and your interests. Click here to download our application form.


STEP TWO

Once you have completed your application form, please email it to applications@theislandyork.org. Someone will then be in touch to discuss your application and explain how mentoring works.


STEP THREE

After your initial discussion with The Island mentoring team, you will be invited to our mentoring training sessions where you will be taught the vital skills you require to begin your mentoring relationship. We strongly recommend that you attend our face to face mentoring training sessions instead of opting for online training. Face to face training gives us the opportunity to get to know you and will help us to identify a suitable young person for you to mentor.


STEP FOUR

Once you have completed your mentoring training and you've received your Enhanced DBS Check back from the Disclosure and Barring Service, our mentoring team will be in touch to discuss a referral with you, arrange your initial meetup with your young person and to begin the mentoring journey. The mentoring services team will be with you every step of your journey, so if you have any questions or need additional support then do not hesitate to get in touch with them.

What type of volunteers do you currently need?

ONE-TO-ONE VOLUNTEER MENTORS

We are looking to recruit at a minimum 20 new one-to-one volunteer mentors and would be grateful to any volunteers who will be able to help us. Our one-to-one programme is 52 weeks long and is completely flexible around your commitments. Ideally, we would like you to meet with your mentee once a week where you will participate in an activity together.


We find through recreational activity that this helps to build a positive mentor/mentee relationship. The beauty of creating a long-term mentoring programme is that it provides the child or young person with the time and space they need to develop sustainable resilience levels.


GROUP-BASED VOLUNTEER MENTORS

We currently have three youth clubs that have been designed to support children and young people who need a group setting to develop their personal skills.


Our youth clubs sessions run on:

  • Tuesday evenings between 5.30pm and 7.30pm. This group is for young people over the age of 15
  • Wednesday evenings between 5pm and 7pm. This group is for children and young people between the ages of 8 and 11
  • Thursday evenings between 5pm and 7pm. This group is for young people between the ages of 12 and 14


Currently, we need an additional 4 volunteer mentors for each club (12 mentors in total) to support the children and young people who access our services. As a group-based mentor, we require a weekly commitment for six months (at a minimum).


We hope you have found the above useful, if you have any questions then please do not hesitate to get in touch. Alternatively, if you would like to find out more about how mentoring makes a difference, click here.


An interview with a Volunteer Mentor

By Emma Bewlay • September 28, 2023
What interested you about becoming an Island Volunteer Mentor? I was interested in volunteering and personal development to enhance my career prospects. I was at a stage where I was confused as to where I wanted to go next but I knew I was good with people, and I knew that my personality would suit working one to one with a young person. I knew that I could pass on good advice and life experience. How long did you mentor for The Island? I mentored for around 15 months. Every week for around 2 hours on a Thursday night. Sometimes we would miss a session due to various factors, but these sessions were caught up on. What did you enjoy most about the Mentoring? I enjoyed being able to experience many different activities with my young person and being able to see their confidence grow. I enjoyed catching up and hearing stories from the week and focusing my attention on that session. Different social settings allowed me to guide my young person and relay stories from my experience which I knew would be helpful. This was enjoyable as I knew I was passing on vital helpful advice for adulthood. Why do you think Mentoring is important for young people? I think in today's world with social media and the stresses on life can be overwhelming for everyone. For a young person to be guided by a mentor, they can step away from that world for a short while and express themselves or let off steam in an environment where they can be nurtured and not judged. With the guidance of a mentor, the young person can take the advice into everyday life which will hopefully help them in difficult and stressful situations. The young person can build up a relationship with the mentor and know that they have trust in them to be able to openly talk about their feelings away from a family, friend it school setting. Please let us know how you have found the support from the island and which aspects you have found the most valuable? I found the support very good and easy to access. I knew that if I needed any support or advice, I could email or call my supervisor. I found the group sessions with other mentors helpful as we could come together and talk about our experience and use any advice in future sessions. Hearing stories from other mentoring experiences was highly valued. Has the Island supported you with any future plans personally or professionally? If so, could you share this with us? The island has kept in touch with me regarding several career opportunities throughout the mentoring process that I have considered. I know that I could sit with the island and discuss any plans if I needed to. Most of all, they have helped my confidence and gave me a platform to express myself and follow my goals which has put me in good stead for next move in my career as a health trainer. The skills and experience I have gained from my mentoring will be transferred over to this next role. At the Island, we are constantly looking for people who have the ability to listen, and who feel that they can develop a positive rapport with children and young people in an honest, challenging and non-judgemental way. All prospective volunteer mentors receive training, support and supervision. This covers such areas as communication, child protection, equal opportunities and often, in the process mentors learn more about themselves, too. To find out more about our volunteer opportunities please click here www.theislandyork.org
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