Having a mentor

From help with your education to support for single parents, there are many ways you can benefit from inviting a mentor into your life.

What is a mentor?

A mentor is an individual who offers support and encouragement to someone else in a specific area of their life. Mentors often make it easier for others to reach their full potential. Mentoring can take the form of:

• Educational mentoring - a volunteering adult or someone employed by a school to provide one-to-one educational support for pupils that need it the most. Educational achievement, career plans and options, behavioural concerns and school or college attendance can all be discussed in these sessions;
• Peer mentoring - based on the idea that an older pupil acts as a 'buddy' and a listening ear for younger pupils. They can also help pupils find practical solutions if they find schoolwork and/or socialising difficult. Adults in similar careers can also mentor each other, e.g. a senior reporter helping a trainee newshound;
• Business/education partnering - when a school or college develops a relationship with different work industries and arranges for representatives to mentor students who have matching career interests. Mentoring also automatically widens the skills base of the industry's employees, so both parties benefit.
• Lone parent mentoring - offers additional support to lone parents. There are also mentoring services available to refugees and the homeless.

What are the benefits of having a mentor?

Having a mentor can:

• Improve self-confidence and feelings of self worth.
• Increase motivation;
• Develop your aspirations and optimism about future opportunities;
• Raise level of achievements;
• Help both you and your mentor build on your communication skills.

What does it cost?

Mentors are usually volunteers, so the vast majority is free of charge.

How do I get started?

There are two main ways to find a mentor. You can either be referred through an agency, or you can choose to approach a mentoring provider itself, such as the Youth Justice Board or the Prince's Trust.

Many mentoring schemes will only take on mentees who have been referred through an agency, and every scheme has its own referral procedure.