West of England Mentoring

Mentees, Mentors, Staff, Uncategorized, Volunteers, wellbeing

Ecosurety a local company that plays an important part in UK recycling partnered with Patchway Community School and this is their experience in their own words. Getting involved with the next generation was an exciting prospect for our team, not to mention quite a challenge. We decided to get involved because the mentoring program offered an opportunity to benefit the local community whilst providing huge potential for personal growth, both for the children and our team. A real win-win. It was a wonderful opportunity to share our experience and insights with the children, indeed simply inviting them into a professional...

Mentoring Benefits – 5 Ways of Wellbeing

28 May 2019

benefits, Mentees, Mentors, Staff, volunteering, Volunteers, wellbeing

How does mentoring help organisations reach the 5 Ways of Wellbeing ? Evidence suggests that a small improvement in wellbeing can help to decrease some mental health problems and also help people to flourish. The centre for well-being at nef (the new economics foundation) developed ‘five ways to wellbeing’: a set of evidence-based actions to improve personal wellbeing. We’d like to share with you the benefits of mentoring and how they match these 5 ways and how you can use mentoring to help your colleagues and employees flourish. Connect – mentors connect with young people in their local community. Building...

Why WEM has been shortlisted for a National Award ?

14 Feb 2019

We are delighted that WEM has been shortlisted for ‘Mentoring Programme of the Year’ at the National Mentoring Awards, the award ceremony is in London on Friday 1st March. This is part of our application as to why we think WEM should be recognised. “There is compelling evidence that a young person who has four or more encounters with an employer is 86% less likely to be unemployed or not in education or training. WEM enables students to have six encounters with employers. To date 25% of the regions schools are participating in the programme and we aim to...

School students and a business mentor - West of England Mentoring

Evidence proves difference WEM makes

22 Nov 2018

Business mentoring, Mentees, Mentors

There is compelling evidence that a young person who has four or more encounters with an employer is 86% less likely to become unemployed or not in education or training post 16 years. Currently less than half of schools nationally are providing these opportunities to young people and in parts of the West of England region this figure is significantly lower. The WEM Mentoring Programme has the additional benefit of addressing this issue by ‘bringing together employers and schools to give young people multiple opportunities to get to know the world of work, understand what work is, explore their options...

What makes a great mentoring match ?

11 May 2018

Mentors

Jamie Forrest, Careers Lead at Beechen Cliff School told us “all students went in and started the process disengaged and with low self-esteem. The students were the type of students that would get into trouble too much and were under achieving. When they started the programme on the first session, it took a little while to settle in, however they really liked the light-hearted approach, the fun activities and the inspiring speaker. It was really positive and great for them to go to Novia Financial’s office and then to the meeting room at Apex Hotel, it was a treat for...

Business mentoring session with West of England Mentoring

Rugby star kicks off Novia mentoring

14 Mar 2018

Business mentoring, Mentors, Uncategorized

Stuart Hooper, former Captain of Bath Rugby, took part in the first of six group mentoring session for young people to launch West of England Mentoring (WEM) at the offices of wealth management company Novia Financial in Bath in January 2018. Novia Financial are providing business mentoring to local secondary school Beechen Cliff this term. 9 members of staff, including CEO Bill Vasilieff, who represent different parts of the business are giving up their time to group mentor 15 students from Beechen Cliff. Over 6 sessions with Novia Financial, students will explore careers, employability and routes into work, and then...

Great results from our Bristol schools

31 Jan 2018

Fifteen Year 8 students from Oasis Brislington have completed 6 sessions with their mentors from Ovo Energy. This is what the students told us in their evaluation survey when their sessions came to end :- 100% students felt more confident about themselves and their abilities 100% of students felt they had improved at taking part in discussions 100% of students felt they had learned about careers and what skills they needed for work 92% of students reported that they now had a plan for post GCSE’s One student said :- “We get to talk on a professional level and...

Why do mentors mentor?

26 Oct 2017

We asked one of our brilliant mentors at Bristol law firm Irwin Mitchell to give us the lowdown. Here’s how the conversation went! Why did you offer to mentor in the first place ? It’s very important to encourage and lead those who are more junior and younger than ourselves. I have personally benefitted from mentoring and I think it is an effective way to raise aspirations and help young people achieve their potential. What’s the best bit about being a mentor ? The best bit about being a mentor is seeing young people overcome challenges and barriers and begin...

OVO Foundation, backing West of England Mentoring with volunteer mentors

Energy innovator sees benefits of mentoring for staff

17 Aug 2017

At this exciting time we are working with new business partners who will help us deliver group mentoring across the region. Ever wondered why businesses and other organisations come on board with volunteer business mentors? We asked Gaby Sethi, Head of OVO Foundation and CSR what it means to be involved with West of England Mentoring. OVO Foundation is part of OVO Energy and manages the organisation’s support of energy access, youth poverty and education causes. “OVO is delighted to be involved in the WEM programme for the first time this year,” explains Gaby. “At OVO, we’re committed to supporting ongoing learning opportunities,...

West of England Mentoring students video

Our mentees say it best

03 Aug 2017