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Hello I'm Dave Sheppard, a senior mechanical engineer with 20 years experience almost all within the water industry, specialising in the design of large pumping stations. I have a strong desire to encourage young people into engineering and have helped design, build & operate Purac's contribution to the "Imagineering" events held at Stoneleigh. Purac operate a "Give me 5" initiate where the company will match voluntary service hours spent within the community with company time hours for the same purpose. As a result, Andrea's request for volunteers for Mentor Link was distributed around the company as part of this scheme & I was delighted to be able to take part.
Outside of work & mentoring I am chairman on the local badminton club, playing competitively within the Worcestershire league. I also play bass with a local rock band & rally drive. I am very happily married to Alaine, a language teacher (and an engineer's daughter) and between us we have a small, fat, cat, but no children - hence the free time! We also help run a youth group at Alaine's church in Foley Park. |
I am Mike Wilkes and I have been a mentor with Mentor Link since 2004. I retired from the Police Force after 32 yrs service and live in Stourport upon Severn with my wife, Lyn and have two grown-up children living in Hereford . I first heard about Mentor Link from Marion, a fellow student on a computer course in Stourport, Worcestershire. She was a mentor and suggested that if I was considering doing some sort of charity work, which I was, then I should think about mentoring. I completed the computer course (just) and worked out that apart from travelling, gardening and reducing my golf handicap I had some spare time to fill.
I spoke to Andrea Maddocks who started Mentor Link and she explained what it was all about. It sounded a very good and worthwhile scheme and was flexible in the time and commitment involved and therefore I thought I try it I began mentoring at Bewdley High School in September 2004.
I started seeing two 13/14 yr old boys on a Wednesday morning for ½ hour each. These were confidential individual sessions and we talked about all aspects of their lives both in and out of school. After a few weeks a third and a fourth boy were included and in 2005 I started mentoring at Birchen Coppice Middle (Junior) School, Kidderminster on Mondays.
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Does mentoring work? It can do for some and having time to listen and talk on a one to one basis can be helpful and supportive. Not everyone responds and shows improvement, but mentoring is not a short-term solution.
Improvement can include anything from improving reading, completing homework, reducing absenteeism or detentions to not swearing at parents or teachers, stopping smoking and enjoying school more. I was amused and pleased to see one comment from a teacher when asked “Have you noticed any particular change in attitude or behaviour since he began seeing a mentor”? He replied, “ Yes definitely, he has stopped calling me a …………… idiot”.
Why do I do mentoring? I find it interesting, useful and rewarding. Interesting to talk and listen to young people about their problems. Useful and rewarding to see improvement and to hear from others that it can make a difference. |
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Hi, I am Jez Light and I have been a working with Mentor Link since around mid 2006. I currently work as a Learning & Development Manager for the UK 's leading Pub and Restaurant Company. I enjoy a busy working and social life and try to make the most of what I do
I decided that I wanted to try and give something back, in some way or another, and was lucky that I had the flexibility with my work to do it. I contacted Mentor Link after being referred by the Worcester Volunteer Centre and began mentoring at Elgar Technology College
I think the fact that I wished that I’d had someone to talk to when I was at school to try and help me out really spurred me on to do this – and actually that fact really helped me to identify and empathise with my first lad as we began to become friends
I have helped with everything from reading, college applications, behaviour patterns, attendance, social bits and pieces, work experience and Saturday jobs – along with many chats about life in general! – Something we can all do
I found it reassuring that because I was not exactly an ‘angel’ myself at school, that my experience of life and ability to listen, offer guidance, and be a friend for someone to talk to was more important and hopefully that will encourage you to do the same if you are reading this…
I think the biggest thing I have learnt is that you really do not need a ‘specific’ skill to be a mentor – you don’t have to be a teacher, or a carer or anything – just be able to be more of a sounding board, with no judgement and lots of common sense and you really will be surprised at the difference you can make
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It’s not always a walk in the park - and sometimes comes with its own frustrations – but nothing outweighs the feeling when you can see that you are making a difference.
Sometimes it’s just that attendance improves, maybe a predicted grade rises, social skills improve, or even as simple as seeing someone’s self confidence growing. Behaviour is often an issue and so often can be worked on by them simply having someone to talk to about the reasons behind it – or chat about what was on the telly last night – every meeting is different – and that’s part of the appeal
I personally find it rewarding to know that at the end of each week I have spent an hour trying to help someone else – not for me – but for them and I can whole heartedly recommend it to anyone. |
Kelly a pupil at Stourport High School writes of her mentor – “I love having Samantha as my mentor and ….I like it when Samantha can come into my food technology lesson with me.”
Sam Storey writes about mentoring, “I decided to become a mentor because when I was at school I found work, friends and life difficult. I know how hard it can be! So I just really wanted to help students gain confidence in themselves and love who they are. If I can just help one person feel worthy, special or just more confident then I feel that I have done my job and I am happy. I love mentoring and forming friendships with the students.” |
Sam Storey & Kelly at Stourport on Severn High School |
June Levell Woodhouse with Gloria, Kayleigh, Amy and Lucinda and Birchen Coppice Middle School. |
During the time I have been mentoring my girls – Amy, Kayleigh, Lucinda and Gloria, I would like to think they regard me as their “friend”. It has been quite rewarding for me to see them develop and gain more confidence in their reading skills. I hope this will help them when they go to Baxter College in the autumn.
The pupils write:-
I like coming to June because she is exciting, you talk to her before and after you read. When you talk to June she wouldn’t tell anyone else about it. You play games too. Gloria Norton.
June helps me with my reading and you tell her what you have been up to. I can say things to her that I can’t tell anyone else. AND it's exciting. Amy Turner.
I like going to my mentor because June is nice and helps us to learn to read. I love reading with her. Kayleigh Williams.
I Like going my mentor because I like June. I used to hate reading but now I love it. Lucinda Blackmore. |
Being a volunteer reading mentor - Margaret Whale
It gives me a chance to show an interest in children, not because you are paid but because you care for them and want them to do well. The children are good company, have a sense of fun and freshness which adults may have lost. It’s nice to encourage an interest and love of books which parents with young families just do not have the time to do and hopefully it will give the one to one attention which teaching staff just do not have the time to devote to each pupil. Being a volunteer mentor in your local school bridges the gap between the school and the community. The more people children know out of school the friendlier the surroundings they live in become. |
Sophie Rowley writes of her mentor… I like seeing my mentor as she helps me understand words in my books I don’t understand.
Charlotte Hodgkins writes.. I like having a mentor because I like reading and we have a good time together. My mentor helps me with a word that I am stuck on and she explains it to me. She listens to my problems and solves them.
Lucy Badham writes…… It is fun having my mentor because it is fun talking and reading with me and she helps me.
Margaret Whale, Sophie Rowley, Charlotte Hodgkins and Lucy Badham at Birchen Coppice Middle School. |
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I have been a Mentor for the past 18 months. The issues have been varied; every scenario you can imagine and more. My role has been to listen and be non-judgemental, discuss attitudes and dispositions within a student’s social environment and the importance of learning to help develop their full potential. I have “first hand” experience with some of the issues; so been there, done that, got the t-shirt is somewhat very apt. Apologies for the cliché.
I strive to promote respect for themselves and others and provide strategies/activities to channel emotions and disruptive behaviour. I find the experience as a Mentor, both challenging and rewarding and look forward to meeting my students each week. Our meetings are a two-way exchange, fundamental when forming a friendship.
Josie Mills – Volunteer Mentor at Baxter College |
Being a mentor has been a most interesting experience. It has given me an opportunity to meet with young people and understand their interests, worries and ambitions. Hopefully, pupils I work with gain something from our meetings. I’ve always believed talking and listening are invaluable ways of coping. Mentor Link as an organisation is very supportive and keeps me going through all the ups and downs of being a mentor.
Diana Sutherland – Volunteer Mentor at Baxter College, Kidderminster |
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Clifford Byrne pupil at Birchen Coppice Primary School in Kidderminster and Julie Best (Mentor) |
One of our Mentors - Julie Best who works at Birchen Coppice Primary School has encouraged a pupil Clifford Byrne to write a story on an imaginary holiday to Spain. Clifford has never been on a foreign holiday and wrote, “ the one thing I liked best was the oranges growing on the trees, they only grow in warm places and I’ve always wanted to see this. When we got home my mom was excited to see me, she asked me how it was, I said it was terrific.” Julie Best writes , Clifford has a wonderful imagination and has never experienced a foreign holiday he wrote this over three weeks with only a short discussion before. I hope he enjoyed our time together as much as I did. |
Jo Priest - Volunteer
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A brief look at mentoring from the view of a volunteer at Mentorlink. I came into mentoring approximately two years ago looking for a placement that was required for completion of a counselling course where I met up with Mentor Link’s founder Andrea Maddocks. We had a delightful discussion from which followed a comfortable interview with Andrea about Mentorlink, how it all started, why, the benefits and also the struggles and set backs that can arise from time to time. After talking to Andrea, I like others became very interested in this venture so, I attended the training course to become a volunteer. Shortly afterwards I became a fully trained volunteer coming into Bewdley High School once a week to meet with pupils who were ready to take advantage of an available mentor.
Mentoring is about support, advice, confidentiality and be – friending. It’s a service that’s available for young people who can benefit from someone to talk to in confidence, someone who is a friend but someone who is separate from their immediate surroundings. Meeting on a regular basis and talking in confidence builds up a positive and secure relationship and from this both mentee and mentor benefit. I as a mentor have learnt a great deal from my mentoring role and can say that I have made friends. I feel I have guided, helped and made secure some uncertainties along the way with my mentee’s and I feel great joy and a sense of purpose in knowing that I have been there for someone when they needed me.
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We have many success stories from mentoring and recently we have had a very positive result from Baxter College. Volunteer mentor Cliff Tonks has been supporting a lad who was presenting some challenges to the teaching staff. Over the months Cliff and P talked about the problems in school and at home. The Head of Year 11 at the school wrote, “P had received a final warning about his behaviour prior to permanent exclusion for all manner of incidents. As a part of his inclusion package, P was offered alternative curriculum, off site provision, reduced timetable, time out and mentoring. The mentor Cliff Tonks made communication with me to formulate the best plan of action for P and also fed back to me on a regular basis. I know how much value he has placed on having such a good mentor and how he has been able to voice his personal concerns about school and home life. Without all these things in place I have no doubt that he would not have stayed in full time education and would not have even considered post 16 options. With guidance from his mentor and help from Connexions he is now looking at a college course in mechanics. I believe strongly that the work of mentor link is an invaluable resource for students like him.
P wrote, “School was somewhere to play up. I wouldn’t be in school now if I hadn’t met Cliff. Where before I would have given a teacher a load of mouth, now I just walk away.
With Cliff’s help, I’m now following my dream of becoming a car mechanic and not going for a dead-end delivery job. Cliff introduced me to Karen, the Connexions lady. She’s helping me with my CV and filling in forms for grants and stuff. Cliff’s helping me with interview techniques, which is great. Having a Mentor has made a big difference to me.” |
Cliff wrote…… I enjoyed meeting with P. We established a good rapport from the outset, probably from our mutual interest in football. He has a great personality, and he always listened when we discussed different ways to approach situations that had created difficulties for him on previous occasions. However my real reward was to hear from P that our meetings had helped to stabilise his last few months at Baxter College, to sit his exams, and then to continue with his full time education at Bromsgrove. I wish him well for the future.
Well done Cliff
Cliff Tonks - Volunteer Mentor, Baxter College. |
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