VOLUNTEERING IN THE COMMUNITY: MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION

WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN MENTORING?

It seemed like a natural step as I was already doing mentoring with my team and other people in the business. Also, I like working with others to help them improve as health and safety professionals. It’s great to help and see people progress and learn new skills.

Thinking back to when I was at school – if I had this, maybe I would have been a different person. It’s a unique programme and I believe it will help a lot of children to have a better future.

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL SESSION INCLUDE?

Every week, I have one-on-one time with my mentee and I also take part in group activities with the other mentors and mentees. Group workshops include activities such as organising volunteering events, which we did in a recent session. The children had to work out how much money they had to spend and what they were going to do.

They have to think about maths and practical skills like organisation – and they use the ReachOut character strengths; self-control, staying power, fairness and good judgement to develop ideas. We host activities like quizzes as ice breakers – you can see them getting excited to answer the questions and be involved.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE OF MENTORING?

It’s an amazing experience. You see the children getting excited just about talking to you! When they have challenges, we remind them of the ReachOut character strengths.

We also set goals for the children for the term, while we’re supporting them. For example, one of the children loves reading, so we set them the target of one book every week so they can come ready to discuss it.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?

I’m proud that I can be there and make the time for it. It’s late in the evening, and I’ve got my own children. I’m proud that my family understand and I’m able to sacrifice an hour when I could be having tea with them on a Tuesday.

What is the best part?

I enjoy the quizzes. I enjoy seeing how much the children know about all sorts of things. Sometimes they bring Harry Potter questions, and you realise you don’t know anything about Harry Potter!

What skills have you gained?

I’ve gained a lot from discussing the character strengths. They are skills I can use when having conversations with my own children, and with the team that I work with.

This is very important for good leadership. You need many of those characteristics within your workplace - you must treat people fairly, use self-control and be empathetic to create the right environment.

What is your style as a mentor?

I like to be ‘the listener’. Lots of people listen without actually listening, because they’re already preparing their answers. For me, listening is about understanding and having a curiosity about what the other person is saying. Then, you can see if your experiences might help that person once you’ve really listened.

Why should others volunteer?

Do you want to make the world a better place? With these children, if you can help them at this young age they might be able to make a difference in the world.

You really do see a lot of difference in the young person you’re working with over the course of the programme. That’s the reward you get. It’s not money, it’s just helping others.

For more information about our volunteering programme, click here