Mentoring Programme
The St Faith’s Trust has donated £22,341 towards Eikon’s mentoring programme at Collingwood College in Camberley. This fantastic support is the second grant the Trust has made towards our work there.
The 28 Eikon volunteers spend an hour each week onsite at the school, supporting young people who are struggling with issues such as bereavement, family breakdown, mental health or behavioural problems. Volunteer mentors bring valuable experience and skills including teaching, training, coaching and counselling.
Claire’s story
“Having retired early from teaching, I got in touch with Eikon. After the first meeting, I knew that becoming a volunteer mentor was the perfect opportunity for me. Eikon mentors are so well supported with regular training and supervision sessions and their Volunteer Co-Ordinator, Martina has a wealth of experience to help ease you in to the role. After my initial training in 2017 I was assigned my first mentee.
The role is all about listening non-judgementally, building rapport and talking through potential goals and strategies, all with the aim of supporting the young person to take action and make changes for themselves. The role is unique in that the mentee takes the initiative – the mentor’s role is to help ‘scaffold’ those decisions and support their growing resilience and confidence. Seeing the impact that just an hour a week of 1:1 support can have on these young people is hugely rewarding.”
Claire Parris, Volunteer Mentor
A huge Thank You to Eikon’s wonderful team of 75 volunteers who work across the charity supporting young people, organising fundraising events, providing strategic advice and providing administrative and fundraising support.
Could this be for you? We are looking for more mentors to work with our young people, as well as volunteers on our fundraising team. If you have some time to spare, even if it’s just an hour a week, we would love to hear from you. Please email info@eikon.org.uk.
