Your Own Place

supporting people moving to independence to prevent homelessness

Mentoring Support

The best chance of support and encouragement in a post Covid19 world

Having a mentor

It’s easy to refer and help someone become more independent

There’s very little referral paperwork, they get a confidential relationship and relevant encouragement to achieve great things at a time of moving to independence

Make a referral:

  • For mentoring support use this referral link here.
  • For HMP Warren Hill referrals (all ages) please use this link.

Mentoring highlights:

  • mentoring is flexible and fits round the mentee
  • mentors can be virtual and/or face to face
  • it’s really easy to get involved and there’s almost no paperwork
  • the mentee decides what they want to talk about
  • mentoring is not judgemental and is relaxed about what the mentee wants to get out of it
  • referrers get updates, videos, case-studies and know the impact mentoring makes on their young person
  • mentoring is relevant for people moving to independence and wanting to chat about this big moment in their lives

1.  What is mentoring?

  • Mentors are people over 21 that have been trained.  They are an impartial and independent person that a mentee can turn to for help, informal support, guidance, goal setting or just someone to have a coffee with and chat about next steps as they move to independence.
  • You can find some FAQs for referrers here.
  • And there are some FAQs for mentees here too.

2.  Why would a person want a mentor?

  • Moving to independence is a really big step for anyone.  Even more so if you’ve been in care, don’t have lots of support or are struggling on a low income.
  • A mentor can help to bridge the gap and be someone to chat to confidentially about goals, aspirations and difficulties along the way.  Mentors can be a vital life-line!

3.  What do Volunteer Mentors actually  do?

  • After successfully completing the two-day training course, being DBS checked and interviewed, mentors are carefully matched to their mentees and make safe arrangements to meet
  • They may meet weekly and no less than fortnightly. The early days are critical to building a relationship and making it work
  • The relationship can be a virtual one from the start or go online/phone after the first few meetings
  • Everyone signs a Code of Conduct and completes a questionnaire to understand more about the support the mentee wants and needs
  • The mentee is in charge of the relationship and decides what they want help with

4.  How does it end?

  • We will undertake an end questionnaire with the mentee and usually a final case-study interview
  • This helps us to understand how the mentee has been supported, the difference it’s made as well as reassure the mentee that they are not being abandoned
  • We want to leave them knowing that our door remains open as well as knowledgeable about other avenues of support

Contact Tom for more information.

tom@yourownplace.org.uk

mob: 07596 534239