Volunteering
CLICK HERE TO BECOME A MENTOR
Mentor Link has over 100 volunteers who help support vulnerable and distressed children and young people across the West Midlands each week. We pride ourselves in being a local, friendly and child centred organisation offering a variety of volunteering opportunities to the local community. We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds and life experiences are essential for this role.
We currently have a great team of volunteer mentors, all of whom recognise that children and young people face challenges, and want to give their time and use their life skills in order to support them. We provide Induction training to all of our mentors when they first come on board, and our team of trainers and staff are here to offer continued support in the role.
How you can make a difference as a mentor?
Spending up to hour each week listening to and supporting a young person
Offering your life experiences to provide support
Giving something back to the younger generation
Talking about the world of work
What skills do you need to become a mentor?
Good listener
Reliability & Punctuality
Patience and a willingness to persevere
Non-judgemental
Empathy
Positive outlook
Commitment of at least 6 months
What rewards you can get from volunteering
Being part of a great charity
Making a difference to the next generation
Free training
Travel expenses paid
Meeting like-minded people
Ongoing support from our dedicated team
What training we provide
One full day Induction training prior to commencing mentoring
Ongoing training is provided by Dr Helen Chaplin from the Educational Psychology Team from Worcestershire Children First.
We hold an Annual Conference for our volunteers which provides training and networking opportunities
One of our volunteers writes:
One of my first Mentees was a young lad who was referred to me with anger issues and was getting several ‘red cards’ a week in school due to them.
We worked on controlling his temper and did sessions on mindfulness; during this it came out that he was being teased, bordering on bullying, and this was the cause of all of his anger. He did not want to discuss this with school staff, so we worked on it together in our sessions. When the mentoring ended we would occasionally see each other around school and wave and smile. What brought it back to me was this week we met in the corridor; We were going in opposite directions and without missing a beat he said “I have not had a red card in two years”, He lifted his hand for a high five, and kept on walking. I looked behind me and saw he had quite a swagger, and to be honest so did I! It was a lovely moment for us both.
You can make a difference to a young persons life by volunteering for around an hour a week.
SAFER RECRUITMENT
Mentor Link adopts Safer Recruitment procedures when recruiting new volunteers. Our ethos is to deter unsuitable individuals by demonstrating an attentiveness and vigilance in relation to safeguarding and rejecting unsuitable individuals through robust application processes.
When advertising for volunteers we always include a statement of commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and the need for applicants to undergo an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check.
It is only once the applicant has been cleared to work with children via a Disclosure & Barring Service check, we have received two satisfactory references and they have successfully completed Mentor Link Induction Training (which includes Safeguarding Children Training) they are allowed to engage with a child referred to our service.
CLICK HERE TO BECOME A MENTOR
If you don’t feel mentoring is for you, we have other volunteering opportunities available in administration or our Charity Shop. For more information on these, click on the links in the sub-menu above.
To apply for any of these roles, visit our Vacancies page and download an application form or give us a call to chat to one of our team.