Volunteer Mentors- Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire
- VO92406
- Advice / Information Giving, Befriending / Mentoring, Youth Work
- Education / Literacy, Ethnic Minorities, Learning Disabilities, Leaving / In Care, LGBT, Low Income Households, Mental Health, People with Ill Health, Physical Disability, Refugees / Asylum Seekers, Residents of Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods, Tackling Unemployment, Unemployed, Young People
Description
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 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.
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 and around Aberdeen 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. The young people we work with all face different challenges in their lives such as; mental ill health, long term unemployment, low confidence and self esteem, care experienced, limited English communication skills due to being new to this country or disabilities.
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; support to explore job, training and further education opportunities; 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
• meetings can be face to face or virtual using email/telephone/video chat/WhatsApp. There is also an opportunity to do a mixture of the two which offers a flexible and accessible approach to this volunteering role in addition to the match itself.
•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 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
If you are interested in this opportunity please email: asia.wieloch@volunteeringmatters.org.uk
We would love to hear from you!
More info about ProjectScotland:
ProjectScotland (part of the Volunteering Matters Family) 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. Everyone we work with is also offered a volunteer mentor.
Organisation aims and objectives
Across Scotland ProjectScotland (part of the Volunteering Matters Family) supports young people to reach their potential through tailored support, mentoring and the opportunity to experience the benefits of volunteering themselves and the support of a volunteer mentors.
Frequency and commitment details
Flexible times available. All help makes a real difference and is greatly appreciated.
Restrictions
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: We would match you to the right young person taking into account where you both live. You could travel to meet them by car/public transport, walking or cycling- we would cover your travel expenses.
Minimum age: 18
Support
Expenses paid: Yes
Expenses details: We can reimburse for travel to and from meeting with your mentee and for teas/coffees/juice you might purchase if meeting with them in a cafe.
Training details: Relevant training and excellent support is provided to all volunteers. We provide two training sessions as part of the initial induction- currently online over two evenings. One session is Get Ready to Mentor- providing all the info and tools and conversations you need to get started. The final session is Safeguarding and Boundaries so you are aware of our policies, procedures and the support we will offer if you were concerned about your mentee's safety and wellbeing. We also produce webinars for further training, access to a mentor toolkit, resources and a community of mentors to learn from and connect with.