Grandmentors is an award-winning, inter-generational mentoring programme, operating in various locations across the UK. We are currently looking for new Volunteer Mentors to join our programme in Midlothian which launched in 2023. It is widely recognised that care-experienced young people are some of the most disadvantaged in society. Many are in care because they have experienced, or are at risk of, neglect and/or abuse. Security and stability are often missing from their lives. We recruit, train and support volunteer mentors (normally but not exclusively aged 50+) who draw on their wealth of professional and personal life experience and skills to support young people (aged 16-26) through life transitions on their pathway to independence. Grandmentors is all about empowering and positive relationships, aligning to “The Promise” that Scotland made to its care experienced population. Young people are listened to, heard, and responded to. They benefit from safe, consistent loving relationships, and access to meaningful support to boost mental & physical wellbeing, resilience, and confidence. Grandmentors facilitate conversations around keeping well, coping strategies, self-care, and self-management. Each young person alongside their Grandmentor co-produces a bespoke support plan and set goals based on their needs. They explore and review the young person’s challenges, and priorities. These range from enhancing mental & physical health and wellbeing, dealing with stress and conflict, support to access sustainable and appropriate housing, career, and education goals, budget planning and more.

Give the gift of an hour a week, by becoming a Mentor to a Young Person aged 14-25 in West Lothian. 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 West Lothian 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 aged 14-25. The young people we work with all face different challenges in their lives such as poor school attendance, poor mental health, low confidence and self esteem, lack of employment opportunities, limited English skills or other life barriers and challenges. Some of the young people we support have been involved in negative behaviour. 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? We will ask you to take part in our safe recruitment process, such as completing a PVG check, before we offer you some training which will prepare you and set you up to be a great mentor! After that, we offer lots of ongoing support, access to guides and resources, plus the chance to join our wonderful network of volunteer mentors across Edinburgh and the Lothians. You are "matched" to one young person and meet with them once a week or fortnight for around one hour . Matches can last anywhere from 3-12 months, or sometimes longer, 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 . 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. We'd love to here from you, express your interest today!

Grandmentors is an award-winning, inter-generational mentoring programme, operating in various locations across the UK. We are currently looking for new Volunteer Mentors to join our programme in Midlothian which launched in 2023. It is widely recognised that care-experienced young people are some of the most disadvantaged in society. Many are in care because they have experienced, or are at risk of, neglect and/or abuse. Security and stability are often missing from their lives. We recruit, train and support volunteer mentors (normally but not exclusively aged 50+) who draw on their wealth of professional and personal life experience and skills to support young people (aged 16-26) through life transitions on their pathway to independence. Grandmentors is all about empowering and positive relationships, aligning to “The Promise” that Scotland made to its care experienced population. Young people are listened to, heard, and responded to. They benefit from safe, consistent loving relationships, and access to meaningful support to boost mental & physical wellbeing, resilience, and confidence. Grandmentors facilitate conversations around keeping well, coping strategies, self-care, and self-management. Each young person alongside their Grandmentor co-produces a bespoke support plan and set goals based on their needs. They explore and review the young person’s challenges, and priorities. These range from enhancing mental & physical health and wellbeing, dealing with stress and conflict, support to access sustainable and appropriate housing, career, and education goals, budget planning and more.

Our volunteers come along for a couple of hours a week on a Monday evening and get involved in facilitating our varied program for the youths, typical activities include games, sports and arts & crafts. We often participate in competitions, go on outings and arrange camp for our youths. We have various opportunities for training for our volunteers at local and national level. You can volunteer from 14+ as a Young Leader, with a wider range of roles for those aged 18+. There’s no upper age limit. We really do welcome applications from all ages. All volunteers working with youths are required to have a PVG. This will be facilitated by the company. We are looking for new volunteers to join and assist during either or both session timings:- 6.00pm to 7.00pm - working with ages 5 upto 8 7.00pm - 8.30pm - age group 8 upto 11 7.00pm to 9pm - working with youths age 11 and above