A mentor can be many things - a positive role model, an adviser, an experienced friend.
Mentoring can include:
- support from an individual (other than a teacher or parent) to a young person in school. This spans ages from primary upwards and uses combinations of mentors from school age to third generation.
- mentoring of head teachers and chief executives of voluntary organisations.
- mentoring support for people "at risk" which might include school exclusion, offending, drug abuse, family breakdown or unemployment.
- support for pre-release prisoners and ex-offenders.
- support for homeless people.
- support for young people in, or leaving, care.
- support for one-parent families.
- support for minority ethnic students.
- support for disabled students.
- support for young people wishing to set up a business.
- support for small and medium businesses from larger companies.
Benefits of mentoring
Benefits for the mentee (the individual being mentored) can include improvements all round in personal & social skills, educational achievement, self-esteem & self confidence, employability, better management and strategic skills, and better business skills.
Benefits for the mentor can include developments in listening skills, problem solving, creative thinking, and social awareness.
Benefits for the employer of the mentor can include employee skills development, enhanced employee motivation, and improved reputation.
Mentoring advice organisations
The National Mentoring Network
The National Mentoring Network is the UK authority on mentoring.
The Network’s objectives are:
- to promote the development of mentoring
- to offer advice and support to those wishing to set up or develop mentoring programmes
- to provide a forum for the exchange of information and good practice.
There are common features to the development of all structured mentoring programmes and these can be found in "10 steps to setting up a mentoring programme" produced by the National Mentoring Network.
Some guidelines from the Network are:
- Programmes need good co-ordination and the time and resources to enable that to happen;
- Clear objectives are important from the outset - to enable effective relationships to develop and to evaluate success;
- Mentors and mentees need to understand their respective roles and to be supported to review the relationship and progress made;
- Mentor qualities include good listening skills, the ability to relate, be supportive and non- judgmental, to be confident about the development of the relationship and when to call in specialist help if necessary;
- Good training can make all the difference to help both mentors and mentees to get the most out of their relationship;
- All mentoring programmes should have an evaluation process built into them. This needs to be considered right at the start of the programme when objectives are set. Effective evaluation provides information that can be used to make programmes more effective in the future.
For more information go to: www.nmn.org.uk
Mentoring knowledgebase
This website tells you all you need to know about supporting young people through local mentoring schemes.
For more information go to: www.youth-justice-board.gov.ukincorporating the Mentoring Knowledge website.
The Coaching & Mentoring Network
'The Network' was established to provide a service both for people who provide coaching or mentoring services and for those seeking them. It is primarily a web-based service which aims to de-mystify coaching and mentoring services and make them more accessible for people in both the business and broader communities.
For more information go to www.coachingnetwork.org.uk
Mentoring initiatives
Mentoring in schools
Education Business Partnerships are at the forefront of placing business mentors in schools.
The National Education Business Partnership Network is the umbrella organisation and national voice for 138 Education Business Partnerships working in the 11 regions.
Education Business Partnerships (EBPs) are the link between local schools, colleges and the business community and they provide a number of roles including preparing young people for the world of work in particular and adult life in general, contribute to the raising of standard achievement via work-related contents and support the business community.
For more information on EBPs and to find your nearest office go to:
www.nebpn.org/aboutus.htm
NB: Employees going into schools and meeting one-to-one with a child will have to apply to the Criminal Records Bureau for a police check. For more information go to the insurance and health and safety pages.
Organisational support for those wishing to set up mentoring schemes
The Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (MBF) is the national strategic body for mentoring and befriending, offering support to practitioners and organisations throughout the sector. As the national body, the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation oversees the work of four regional bodies: London, the North West and the West and East Midlands and has a number of staff in each of the regions.
For more details to to: www.mandbf.org.uk
Mentoring young people
V has been set up to inspire a new generation of young volunteers, aiming to involve at least 1 million more 16 – 25 year olds in volunteering and community action by 2010. So what does that mean? It means more young people on community radio, more young people improving the environment, more young people running sports clubs, more young people taking part in international projects – basically more young people giving their time and talents to improve their communities. An initiative set up through the Russell Commission.
For more information go to: www.wearev.com
To find further information on the range of specialist mentoring programmes available from the online directory listing mentoring sites where you can get mentoring help including a mentor relationship, and related sites go to:
www.mentoring-uk.org.uk/mentoring_uk.asp
International guide
PricewaterhouseCoopers has sponsored an international guide to business mentoring which profiles the experiences of mentoring within its 21 affiliates. The manual, published by Youth Business International in 2002, includes information on recruitment, training, motivation, management and the allocation of business mentors, in addition to case studies and practical tools for mentors.www.youth-business.org
Case study
Camden Education Business Partnership
Camden EBP runs a range of mentoring programmes for secondary school students: face-to-face, e-mentoring and group mentoring.
Since 2003, volunteers from leading city law firm Nabarro Nathanson have been (face-to-face) mentoring with a group of 19 Year 10 students from a local school. The school chose students for whom it was felt that supportive intervention would enable them to reach their full potential. Mentors attended an initial training session a structured matching session where they met their mentees, and with ongoing support from the EBP, will continue through to the students’ taking their GCSEs.
Students have benefited through having an opportunity to relate to an adult role model, getting support with their learning (including course work), becoming familiar with the world of work and, crucially greatly increasing their confidence and self-esteem. The mentors have improved their listening skills, gained a knowledge of the problems facing young people and, importantly, had the satisfaction of being able to offer help and support.
Taken from Employer Supported Volunteering – the guide. This new publication, published by Volunteering England and written in collaboration with Business in the Community and supported by Abbey, will tell you everything you need to know about employer supported volunteering.
