Give the gift of your time and become a volunteer mentor for young people. It could be life changing for you both!
Would you like to support a young person in high school on their journey to gaining new skills and experience, becoming more self-confident and achieving their goals? If the answer is yes, we would love to hear from you.
We are looking for volunteer mentors specifically for our projects based in secondary schools in Edinburgh. St Thomas Aquins’ High School is near The Meadows and Castlebrae Community High School. As a mentor, you would be matched to a S2/S3 (12-14 years) young person from one of the schools. This is an amazing opportunity to support and mentor a young person who has been identified by the school as benefitting from wrap around support and a volunteering placement. The young person may experience challenges in their lives- care experience, mental ill health, low confidence and self esteem, disability, low income household, young carer, uncertainty about their future.
Why mentoring?
Mentoring is at the heart of what we do here at ProjectScotland and we offer every young person we support, the opportunity to be matched with a volunteer mentor. We are searching for people in Edinburgh who are able to offer one hour of their time once a week or fortnight for up to 12 months to help transform the life of someone else.
As a volunteer mentor, you could support your mentee with whatever is important to them. This could be: goal setting; identifying interests and strengths; confidence building; helping to establish a routine; social connections; or just someone consistent to talk to and check in with to see how they are. The support you can offer is invaluable and can be life changing.
How does it work?
• Following recruitment, we provide training, support to join the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme, ongoing support, access to lots of resources and a wonderful community of mentors across the country to connect with, learn from and build friendships with.
• you are matched to one young person and meet with them once a week or fortnight for around one hour. This is likely to start at the school during school hours, however we hope once the relationship has developed, the mentoring sessions could move out with the school building to encourage the young person's independence and connection to their local community.
•matches can last from 3-12 months depending upon the relationship and the needs of the mentee
What’s in it for you?
• Help transform your mentee’s life
• Develop communication and interpersonal skills e.g. coaching, motivating others, adaptability
• Gain transferable skills and experience volunteering with disadvantaged young people
• Participate in regular support and training
• Meet new people, connect and have fun!
• Learn about yourself and gain a sense of achievement supporting others
• Learn more about your community and the challenges that people can face
More info about ProjectScotland:
ProjectScotland (now part of the Volunteering Matters Family of Brands) works with people (predominantly young people) across the country who are struggling to overcome challenges such as social isolation, mental health issues, low confidence and general uncertainty about their futures. By providing wrap around support and the chance to complete a voluntary placement with a local charity; not only can this enhance confidence and self-belief, but it gives that individual the opportunity to build on their skills and experience and potentially move on to a job, further education or training when they are ready. Everyone we work with is also offered a volunteer mentor.
Our vision is of a society where everyone can participate in their local community through volunteering and social action.
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As a guide a 6-12 month commitment – 1 hour weekly/fortnighly although this will be flexible and may fluctuate to meet school timetables and mentor availability. Mentors will have to be available to meet with the pupil within school hours.
Experience required: We are looking for mentors from diverse experiences and backgrounds. We aren't looking for specific qualifications, skills or experience- just a passion to support a young person and an hour to spare. Our current mentors are; stay at home parents/carers, students, retired, professionals, entrepreneurs and everything in between.
Travel details: St Thomas Aquins-Near The Meadows in Edinburgh and Castlebrae Community High School
Mentors would be expected to make their own way to the mentioned location but we will reimburse for travel.
Minimum age: 18
Expenses paid: Yes
Expenses details: Travel expenses would be refunded.
Training details: We would provide a "Get Ready to Mentor training workshop" and "Safeguarding Training".
Support from a single point of contact. Ongoing support through webinars/mentoring resources and toolkit. A community of wonderful mentors across the country to connect with.