As a Mentor, try to ask open questions that start with “What” and “How”. Follow up these questions with “and what else” and repeat this several times. The real reason the Mentee is displaying this change of character and reluctance will come out, but it will take dome digging. Don’t be afraid of silence, don’t feel the need to fill it, instead just sit and hold the space for the Mentee to share their thoughts and feelings. Once you have identified what the problem is, this is when you can implement the GROW model to establish what a ‘win’ against this problem would look like, compare this to where they are right now, brainstorm options to move from the reality to the goal and list the next steps that are going to be taken to reach that goal.
On this page, you will find all the information you need to feel prepared and ready to make the first contact with your Mentee.
Bookmark this page! In the page below, you will find all the information you need to participate in the Mentor Scheme. This online Training page is designed to prepare you if you are unable to attend one of our hosted sessions, or as a refresher if you are a returning Mentor.
Timeline with Your Mentee
Project Trust matches Mentors & Mentee
Mentors to have reached out & made contact with Mentee (you may need to chase them!)
Once you have made contact, get a Mentor session booked in ASAP. Try to have a call each month.
Email Project Trust with updates – we’ll get in touch to remind you!
We’ll let you know once your Mentee has submitted their funding. If they tell you they are complete, please let us know!
Mentees depart for training the next month. Have your final farewell and update Project Trust.
Mentoring Essentials
Your aim as a Mentor will be to support your Mentee getting to the point of coming to Coll for Training. Whilst this could be across a variety of topics, our Mentor Scheme has a particular focus on supporting Volunteer fundraising. Mentors will be encouraging and supporting Volunteers through the fundraising journey. Each fundraising Volunteer is supplied with the Online Volunteer Fundraising Pack which acts as their guide for this journey (this digital resource replaces the old Fundraising Handbooks, which had taken the form of a PDF during the pandemic). The purpose of a Mentor is to support them on this journey by sharing your own skills and lived experiences.
Alongside fundraising support, one of the biggest contributions we believe Mentors can make is being an encourager and motivator – keeping alive the enthusiasm that we see from each Volunteer during Selection and reminding them of what they are working towards.
Feedback from Mentors has suggested that sometimes it can be difficult to gauge whether you are doing enough for your Volunteer, so we have put together a few concrete points to guide you:
- Offer to meet every month or so but don’t worry if your Volunteer doesn’t want or need input this frequently (& if you hear nothing for several months, drop us a line so we can advise)
- Share your knowledge & experiences when you meet but don’t feel like you have to proofread or take on extra tasks to help them, unless you want to
- Pass any concerns or disclosures to us as it is not expected of you to solve or address these
Each Mentee will have a preferred channel of communication. Some may prefer the phone, whilst others prefer email. It is up to you as a Mentor to agree with your Mentee which communication method you will use. We do however ask that you try to ensure you speak to your Mentee, and not just communicate by messaging. This could be over the phone, FaceTime or WhatsApp, for example. Giving your Mentee a chance to talk whilst you to listen is invaluable in truly understanding what challenges they are facing, and the personal interaction really helps to build your rapport.
There is no set way we ask you to structure your interactions, however one of the methods we recommend trying is the GROW Model.
Each Mentee will have different questions and different difficulties that they bring to their Mentor. One of the approaches that Project Trust uses to support Volunteers is the GROW model. You may find this helpful during your contacts points with Mentees, particularly if they have identified particular problems or challenges.
The GROW Model provides you with a structure to ensure that each session is providing tangible advice for your Mentee. It can be helpful to make notes as you go through the session so that you can share these with the Mentee after and keep track of where they are up to next time you meet.
Goal
Identify where or what point they want to get to. Define what success or a ‘win’ is.
Reality
What is the current situation, where are they at the moment.
Options
What are the different ways or options that they could move from Reality to Goal.
Way forward
What are the next steps that are going to be taken to achieve the Goal.
As a Mentor, it is possible that you could be Mentoring a Volunteer who is under the age of 18. It is therefore important that you understand what safeguarding means, and what is expected of you as a Mentor.
Effective safeguarding involves protecting children and vulnerable adults from harm and taking action to promote their welfare. All Project Trust Mentors who are matched with a Mentee under the age of 18 are required to hold a Basic Disclosure Scotland that is no more than 3 years old. This can be transferred over from your time as a Volunteer as long as this was in the past 3 years.
You can apply for a basic Disclosure online: Apply for basic disclosure – mygov.scot for a cost of £25. If you need to update your certificate, please ensure that a scan of this is sent to Project Trust. We will reimburse you for the cost of Disclosure; please request the relevant expense forms when you send us the certificate.
Safeguarding needs to be considered for both online and in-person interactions. If you are meeting your Mentee in person, ensure the meeting takes place in a public place such as a café. If you are connecting with your Mentee online, ensure you do not share personal social media accounts with them. Please keep all communications to telephone, FaceTime, text, email or WhatsApp. If at any point you have concerns over the welfare or safety of your Mentee, you must immediately report this to Peter Wilson (peter.wilson@projecttrust.org.uk) Project Trust’s Safeguarding Lead.
Project Trust’s Key Mentor Safeguarding Principles
- Up-to-date Disclosure – all Mentors must have a Basic Disclosure Scotland certificate dated to the last 3 years. If you need to purchase a new one, we will reimburse the cost.
- Do Not Share Personal Social Media – for online communication, please use phone or emails (& by extension stick to Zoom, Teams, FaceTime, WhatsApp, etc. for video calls), rather than sharing Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.
- Use Public Venues – if you choose to meet your Mentee face-to-face, you must meet at a public venue such as a café or library, rather than private property.
- Record & Report, Not React – in the (unlikely) event of a disclosure, take notes as early as possible (ie. at the time) and pass them immediately to us. It is not your responsibility to solve any issues that may be raised, but simply to make us aware of them.
- Listen and Don’t Insert Opinion – if a Mentee makes a disclosure, listen and note down what they say without adding your own thoughts or asking leading questions, as this can contaminate your report.
- If in Doubt, Tell Peter – it is far better to pass a concern to Peter that turns out to be harmless, than the opposite. As our Safeguarding lead, Peter will have a more complete picture, and you might be providing the final puzzle piece. You will not be chastised for passing on seemingly trivial concerns – in fact, this is what we are asking you to do!
Common Mentee Problems
- The Mentee has had a few people say they don’t want to pay for their holiday and that charity begins at home. The Mentee is nervous about asking anyone for a donation now and wonder if having a Gap Year is selfish.
- The Mentee has had an offer from their first choice university but they can’t defer. They have to choose between Project Trust and university.
- The rest of the people on the Mentee’s selection course say they have raised lots of money. The Mentee’s family and friends have lost work and money because of Covid/Cost of Living Crisis and can only make small donations. The Mentee doesn’t think they will be able to raise the money in time.
Potential Scenarios
Scenario One
You are on your third call with your Mentee. The first two went well but this time they are reluctant to talk about their plans and progress. Your Mentee is quite quiet and evasive. You can see something is wrong. What should you do?
Scenario Two
You are on your fifth call with your Mentee who has been placed on a Senegal project. Since selection, they have done lots of reading about Senegal and know all about the climate, the food, the currency. They discussed plans and ideas with you and at the start they said they felt a little nervous about going but the excitement cancelled this out. Now that their departure date is getting closer, they seem to be getting more and more nervous and are starting to withdraw from conversations. They avoid making eye contact, they look tired and they’re constantly fidgeting which is out of character. The Mentee tells you the thought of leaving is causing them a lot of stress and they are starting to think if it is worth it and if they’re capable of doing this.
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How to Respond
As a Mentor, it is important that you allow your Mentee to share their thoughts and feelings about their placement with you. If they start to show a change in behaviour, appearance or attitude, please report this to Peter Wilson at Project Trust. It is normal for Mentees to feel nervous about their departure; they are embarking on what is probably the biggest adventure of their life to date. This can be scary and intimidating to many. We therefore want to ensure we are providing the right support and reassurance to prevent this worry from escalating. If you ever have any concerns over a Mentees health or wellbeing, always report this to Peter Wilson at Project Trust.
Final Checklist
Congratulations! You have made it to the end if the Mentor Training page. The steps to take before getting matched with a Mentee are outlined here:
- Training – attend the next online Mentor Training session, or familiarise yourself with the page contents above if you prefer to start sooner
- Charter – complete and submit our online Mentor Charter
- Disclosure – send us a copy of your Basic Disclosure, or apply for a new one here if yours is more than 3 years old (we will reimburse you the £25 cost of this)
Disclosures can be sent in to Claudia.Bettson-Burdett@projecttrust.org.uk or mentoring@projecttrust.org.uk once received & completed. Once we have this and the Charter, we will pair you to a Mentee and contact you to share their details! If you have any questions about the role, or the materials above, please ask us. We are happy to arrange calls or online chats with you at any point in the Mentoring process.