Volunteer Mentor - Big Leaf Young Leaders Programme

Big Leaf Foundation’s Young Leaders Programme supports displaced young people living in Surrey to build confidence and knowledge – exploring identity, advocacy, leadership and legal rights – in order to help them feel more empowered within themselves, their local community and within Big Leaf itself.

Through this programme we aim to:

• create a space for displaced young people to become leaders within their local community;
• support participants take an active role in the development and leadership of Big Leaf Foundation and/or become facilitators on future Young Leaders programmes; and improve psychosocial and psychological wellbeing of young people who have traumatic experience of forced displacement.

Participants include young people who have been engaged with Big Leaf for more than 6 months, are moving into adulthood and are looking to learn and develop new skills, explore opportunities and gain confidence in leadership. We aim to support 6-8 displaced young people through each programme intake.

ABOUT THE VOLUNTEER MENTOR ROLE.

You will offer emotional and practical support to a young person in either Guildford or Redhill (or surrounding areas) helping build confidence, explore their thoughts and emotions arising from the programme, work towards personal objectives and support progression beyond the life of the Young Leaders programme.

We’re looking for mentoring volunteers with excellent interpersonal and communication skills who are able to provide emotional support in a calm and responsible manner and offer guidance with compassion and understanding. You will be pro-active, reliable and well organised and work easily with people from diverse backgrounds. An understanding of the issues and experiences of young people who are coming to the UK as asylum seekers and refugees is also desirable.

WHAT WILL I BE DOING?

Mentors will join the project once the young people have successfully completed the taught element of the leadership programme. It is the responsibility of the Mentor to help their Mentee to 'put their learning in to practice' in phase 2 of the programme, when the Mentee will choose and apply themselves to a personal project and/or progression route.

Your role will involve:

• Supporting a displaced young person during a crucial stage in their social and emotional
• development.
• Meeting your mentee once a week for 1-2 hours at a time and for a fixed term of 4 months.
• Maintaining confidentiality and clear boundaries in all aspects of the role.
• Focusing on the individual needs of your mentee – building confidence, supporting resilience, working towards personal objectives & developing the tools to manage feelings for a positive future.
• Joining our network of mentors, staff and volunteers, building role confidence and sharing knowledge and experience.
• Receiving supervision support from the team and your peers once a month (min.) throughout the project.
• Participating in evaluation of the programme through completing report forms after every session.

We will provide safeguarding training as part of the induction process and will support you to identify and respond appropriately to any safeguarding and protection issues arising during mentoring sessions.

What skills do I need?

ABOUT YOU

• Shared values | You share our determination to support and empower displaced young people to know they are more than their status, and help them find their place within their local community.
• Reliable | You understand that trust is the basis for a strong mentoring relationship and that being reliable is central to building trust. You’re committed to the role and attending all mentoring sessions.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills | You understand the importance of active listening and you communicate well with young people using compassion and empathy.
• Non-judgemental attitude | You demonstrate kindness and openness and do not impose personal values.
• Professional | You provide emotional support in a calm and responsible manner that respects boundaries and places safeguarding at its core.
• Positive and resilient | You meet challenges with optimism, seeing them as an opportunity to learn, and you instill confidence in others, supporting them at difficult and challenging times.