Volunteering as a Mentor

Are you interested in helping young refugees to build positive futures by thriving in education? 

As an educational mentor, you will help a young refugee with their homework, learning English or other subjects and by building their confidence.

We are looking for volunteers to provide 1-1 mentoring sessions for 1-2 hours per week for a minimum of 6 months. No prior experience of mentoring is needed, you will receive training and support and join a community of volunteers across London who are supporting young refugee students.

In this role you will: 

• Attend full induction training and mentor development trainings
• Complete all relevant child protection checks 
• Prepare and deliver educational mentoring sessions for a young refugee student 
• Safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people you come into contact with 
• Receive support from the REUK Educational Mentoring team in delivering mentoring sessions where needed 
• Help to identify support needs of vulnerable students and liaise with your REUK Mentoring Coordinator to ensure they receive appropriate and timely support 
• Attend 6-month mentoring reviews with your REUK Mentoring Coordinator to track your mentee’s progress 

Key responsibilities: 

• To attend full induction training, other training as necessary, and complete all relevant child protection checks. 
• Prepare and arrange the sessions with your mentee, including sending reminders each week.
• Meet with your young person for a one hour session once a week, over the period of at least 6 months at a mutually convenient, public place, with the purpose of supporting young people to progress in their education. 
• To safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people you come into contact with 
• Complete weekly feedback for all mentoring sessions, whether delivered or missed. 
• Liaise with the REUK Educational Mentoring team for support in delivering mentoring sessions where needed. 
• Help to identify support needs of vulnerable students and ask your Mentoring Coordinator to contact REUK’s specialist team with these concerns for assistance from our specialist support worker. 
• Attend a six-month mentoring review with an REUK Educational Mentoring Coordinator. 
• Any other reasonable task requested by REUK. 

If this sounds like you, please contact [email protected] to request an application form or visit www.reuk.org for more information! 

What skills do I need?

We need volunteers who have:

• Experience of working with young people and the related challenges (i.e. flexibility and patience required for youth work)
• Capacity to travel to a local location convenient for the young person and an ability to meet the young person by 5:30pm at the latest (if this time is an issue for you, please speak to us) 
• Experience of working with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures
• Ability to work on own initiative and a willingness to take on relevant preparation
• Ability to think creatively and problem-solve 
• Excellent communication/interpersonal skills 
• Good organisational skills 
• Ability to cope with emotionally-demanding and stressful situations 
• Motivated by promoting the wellbeing of children and young people 
• Commitment to and ability to work in accordance with REUK’s Child Protection policies and Christian Ethos
• Commitment for up to 6 months 

Location

This opportunity has no specific location e.g. can be carried out anywhere.