Mentoring

The mentoring relationship focuses on the personal development of the young person addressing key issues such as interpersonal, independence and coping skills. All mentors are trained through our OCN Level 2 ‘Mentoring Matters’ programme.

All young people on the Give and Take Scheme will be given the opportunity for additional weekly support from a personal volunteer mentor recruited from the local community.

The relationship with the mentor will assist the young person in setting and achieving goals that will help to address particular barriers and support towards sustained engagement in education, training or employment.

We look for volunteers on a rolling basis across Northern Ireland to mentor the young people on the Give & Take Scheme.

If you are interested in mentoring why not contact Dearbhla Holohan, Personal Development and Mentoring Coordinator at Include Youth for more information or just download the application form and apply:

• Volunteer Mentor Application Form
• Volunteer Mentor Role Description
• Volunteer Mentor Personal Specification

We also offer mentoring training to employers who wish to provide a supportive on-site mentor for any young people on work experience with them. This training is called ‘Make it Work’ and is offered as a one-day OCN Level 1 qualification. To find out more please contact Jacinta Totten, Employment Liaison Coordinator at Include Youth.

What some of the young people have said about mentoring:

“Great to have someone friendly to talk about things and to set goals to achieve.”

“Mentoring is good for young people as it gives the young person someone to talk to and do different things with on a weekly basis.”

“They’re [the mentor] always there for you.”

“It gives you something to do rather than sitting in the house all day, and you try out different activities that you didn’t think of doing. You also get to interact and talk to each other and you don’t have to pay because Give & Take pays instead.”

“Mentors are awesome. You can trust them with anything as long as it’s legal. I love my mentor to bits and dunno what I would do without her.”

“You can spend time one to one and it keeps me out of trouble. It’s good to stop me being bored. If you build up trust you can talk about anything.”

“It’s good for young people because it gives them time to escape from their problems for a while and it gives them someone to talk to when needed.”