Become a Youth Mentor

We are passionate about seeing transformation in the lives of local young people who face disadvantage.

Aspire Mentoring
Mentoring young people aged 15–25 into education, employment and training.

What is Aspire Mentoring?

Aspire Mentoring supports young people aged 15-25 throughout their journey of attaining, sustaining and thriving within education, employment and training. We do this through carefully matching a young person to a mentor who acts as a consistent role model, tailoring the support to each individuals’ unique needs and aspirations.

What does mentoring involve?

Our mentoring has a relational and holistic approach focusing on practical support, such as CV writing or interview skills, and social-emotional support, such as building confidence and self-esteem.

Where and When?

Aspire Mentoring sessions primarily take place in public locations such as cafes and libraries. However, mentoring also takes place at our centrally based mentoring hub for young people who may feel uncomfortable meeting in a public environment.

All mentoring sessions usually take place weekly, at a time and day that is convenient for both the young person and their mentor.

Advance Mentoring

Mentoring young people aged 11–19 who are at risk of exclusion from school and/or becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) upon leaving education.

What is Advance Mentoring?

In connection with local schools, colleges, and the local authority, Advance Mentoring is one-to-one mentoring for young people aged 11-19 who are most at risk of exclusion and/or are likely to become NEET upon leaving education.

Our aim is to help young people thrive inside and outside of education, ensuring they have the tools and confidence to feel positive about their future.

Through the same relational, tailored, and holistic approach as our other programmes, Advance aims to prevent fixed term and permanent exclusions and ensure young people have a positive destination for when they leave school.

What does mentoring involve?

Mentoring focuses on both practical skills (e.g. prioritising tasks, improving personal presentation, helping to identify future goals) as well as social-emotional skills (e.g. being a listening ear and developing a positive mental attitude).

Mentoring can also provide a relational space where the young person can explore the circumstances, emotions, or reasons as to why they are struggling to engage in school or college, in a safe environment.

Once the young person has left education, they progress into our Aspire Mentoring programme. This makes sure there is a support structure in place so that no young person has to end up in the vulnerable position of being long-term NEET.

When are where does mentoring take place?

We tailor the locations, times, and activities around each young person as well as their school or college’s timetable. Previous mentoring has taken place on and off site, within and outside of school hours.

What about your school or college?

We ran a successful pilot with 4 schools and colleges mentoring those most at risk of becoming NEET. 75% of young people left school or college with a positive destination in place, with the remaining 25% choosing to continue mentoring where they were supported into education and employment.

Our Programme Manager will be happy to talk you through the range of fully funded options for mentoring, workshops, and mock interviews.

Service access criteria: Age 11-25 in the Reading or Wokingham Area
Categories:
Volunteering
Additional needs catered for:
N/A
Key words - separate with a comma: Mentoring, Youth Support
Disclaimer: Please note that services on the Joy Marketplace are independent and are not necessarily endorsed by your locality/area.