Volunteering, could that be for you?

Youth Federation’s Community Mentoring Project for young people in Wirral is a new and exciting project for the Cheshire based charity.  It is to compliment an informal education project Youth Federation is delivering for young people excluded from education in Macclesfield and from September the Wirral.  All the young people have access to this service but it has to be something they really want for themselves…it can't be done to them!

The Community Mentoring project is mirroring a similar project Bolton Lads & Girls Club (BL&GC) has been successfully running for around fourteen years and achieved “Gold Star Award” from the Home Office. BL&GC say that they can see the impact adult volunteers are having on the young people accessing their scheme and now have people who were mentored as a young person becoming a mentor for someone else. 

To become a volunteer mentor there is no special requirement other than one or two hours a week to invest in a young person over a year in leisure time. To be a positive role model, able to listen, be non-judgmental and try to understand the world from a young person’s perspective and most of all have some fun!

A number of adults both male and female become volunteer mentors because they didn’t have a good experience of growing up in a safe and caring environment or were bullied or had behavioral problems and have managed to change the direction their life was taking for the better. Or, quite simply feel they have something to offer to help develop a young person to make a positive contribution to their community and look forward to a more optimistic future.

The Volunteer Mentors canvassed by Youth Federation at Bolton all benefited from their Mentoring experience much more than they envisaged when they started out.  Some have been able to develop their own skills and understanding of others which they have found to be helpful in their own work and private lives. 

The Mentee’s Youth Federation canvassed at Bolton have all gained a lot from their mentoring experience and see that the direction their life was taking before they were matched with a Mentor is in the past and they have been able to make the changes they needed to make for a more positive future.   

If you would like to know more about becoming a volunteer contact;

Lynn Lowndes Mentor Coordinator Tel: 01606 784782 or Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it