Oxfordshire Youth Mentoring Scheme

So what's a mentor?

A mentor is simply someone to talk to, who you can trust. A mentor is like a friend; someone who is there for you. They’re independent – not part of the system. They will give you time, treat you with respect, listen to you. And if there are things in your life you want to change, they may be able to help. At the very least you can talk things over with them – and that usually helps. Being on the mentoring programme also offers you the opportunity to access training and/or activities, if you want to take these up.

Who are these mentors?

Mentors are recruited by the Oxfordshire Youth Mentoring Scheme. They are ordinary men and women who are interested in befriending and helping young people. They have all volunteered to do this – they don’t get paid for getting involved. They just have a genuine interest in helping young people like you.

• They have been carefully checked out to make sure they’re the right people for the job.
• Each one has given a commitment that they will get to know a young person for up to a year.
• And they’ve had some training to help them understand a bit more clearly, the kind of things young people face these days.
• They are supervised by Youth Workers.

What can I do with a mentor?

It’s largely up to you what you do. You and your mentor work out together where you want to do, what you would enjoy doing together, how you spend your time and what you want to talk about. You decide how it goes, but here’s how it worked out for one young person:

“Nervous. Meet. Go out for the first time. Still nervous. Quiet. Eat. Talk. Ok. Meet again. LaserQuest. Have a laugh. Mentors aren’t fit. Have a good time. Talk on the phone. Out again. Begin to trust. Talk. Talk some more. Cool. Talk about some important stuff. Cheeseburgers ….and fries. Chat. Home. Think afterwards. Next week. Cinema. Rubbish film. Go for a long walk. Decide to really talk. Chat chat chat. Listen. Think a lot. Questions. Somebody understands. Remembered my birthday – nobody else does. Friendship. There for me. Seems to see the good in me. Fun. Day out. Theme park. Exhausted. Help. Advice. Why didn’t I do this a long time ago? Wicked.”

Activities

Cost

Having a mentor is free. It won’t cost you any money. In fact you and your mentor will have £35 per month to spend on activities and travel together. Having a mentor will cost you, though, in time. A mentor will show commitment to you. We expect you to show commitment to your mentor. If under 16, your parent/carer will also have to consent to you being on the programme.

Interested?

If you're interested and for further information you can find out more about the Youth Mentoring scheme and contact details here.

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