I have worked as an Achieve Youth Mentor for Whitby schools for just over six months where it has been a wonderful and rewarding experience so far. I mentor a cohort of around 30 year 9’s 1:1 and in small groups. I support the young people by giving them the opportunity to talk, build their self-esteem, encourage them to access activities to further develop their talents, skills and lastly be their advocate.
I thoroughly enjoy mentoring my cohort and we talk about everything; the highs, the lows, we have tears, and we laugh. We play games and I even listen to singing practise!
The more I get to know the individual personalities, talents and strengths the more I can help the young people work through overcoming personal challenges and learning vital life lessons. It is very rewarding to watch a young person grow in confidence and start to believe in themselves. All it can take is for a young person to feel listened to and supported.
As well as mentoring, I also encourage and support young people on various activities. The activities are organised by our Achieve Activities Coordinator Katy. The aim of the activities is to enthuse the young people to try new things that in turn helps them discover new interests and talents, some of which they never knew they had. The after-school cooking club is a great example of this. The young people get the opportunity to learn to make easy, affordable, healthy meals to help them gain independent living skills and knowledge of healthy eating.
My youth work fits into the up-and-coming Youth Work Week. Every year, around the first week of November, there is a celebration of all thing’s youth work. This year’s theme is:
‘’A right to youth work for all – delivering positive futures for young people’’.
To find out more about this weeklong campaign and to register for Youth Work Week events, visit Youth Work Week - National Youth Agency
Let’s all be positive advocates for our youth.
Achieve Youth Mentor, Daisy Bringloe