Fate led me to become a volunteer mentor for Kids Inspire
Our mentors are inspirational people, each with their own story to tell and sometimes fate has a part to play! Volunteer mentoring is a simple but powerful act and makes a huge impact on young people going through challenging times of their lives. In just an hour each week, a dedicated mentor can make a world of difference for a young person facing difficulties even sometimes without saying a thing. We are always keen to share what led our mentors to Kids Inspire.
Meet Ruth
Ruth shares her experience of volunteering as a mentor for young people within the Essex community and how she first came to learn about our mentoring programme.
1. Tell us about yourself
I live with my husband and our two girls (Sophie 21 and Rosie 23) plus 2 dogs (Boris, Bob, and a puppy arriving soon!) and 2 cats (Nina and Tilly). My day job is in financial services, but I’m also a musician and my retirement plan is to be a piano teacher.
2. Why did you choose to train to be a Mentor?
This is a bit long winded, but hopefully worth it as I really believe fate lends a hand!
My daughter Sophie is a singer/songwriter and has supported Kids Inspire at various fund raising events since she was a teenager. That connection led to the Kids Inspire fundraising team asking me to recommend the charity for the ICAP Charity Day where I worked at the time - it’s an amazing day every year where 100 chosen charities benefit from the firm donating an entire day’s revenue to their causes. Kids Inspire was successful in being included on the day and chose to fund mentoring training with the donation. We have a history of mental health challenges throughout our family and it just felt right to apply to go on the training course, use that experience where possible and learn to work with the young people Kids Inspire supports. The rest is history!
3. What's your favourite part of mentoring?
Spending dedicated time every week with a young person who really values it. I can honestly say that, as well as being hugely rewarding in the fairly obvious ways, mentoring completely takes me out of my crazy day to day. My work can be very demanding and stressful, so stepping away, putting the phone down and completely concentrating on a young person is massively therapeutic and grounding. It’s not about us (the mentors) at all, but it’s honestly so beneficial to my life as well as, to the young people I mentor.
4. How do you explain the role of a mentor?
We are “professional friends” and it’s all about dedicating time to a young person who needs that. We have no clinical expertise or responsibility in that area, but we are trained and supported to escalate anything we may feel concerned about to keep our young people safe. It’s so rewarding and grounding at the same time.
6. Can you tell us about a personal highlight from your journey as a mentor?
I mentored a particularly nervous and withdrawn young person. We didn’t do anything ground breaking when we met - we went for walks, chatted, played games, did craft activities (they absolutely loved drawing and were so talented at it). Without going into the detail of the challenges the young person was facing and discussed with me, I literally watched them blossom over the weeks we met. I did nothing other than listen and spend time with them - it was very powerful and I’m so proud of that experience.
5. What advice would you give to someone thinking about becoming a mentor?
You are always going to be enough for any young person you're matched with. If you’re thinking about becoming a Mentor, don’t hesitate. It’s the most rewarding experience, honestly.
Feel inspired by Ruth’s story and interested in learning more about training to be a volunteer mentor in Essex? We’d love to hear from you and equally happy to answer any further questions you may have. Please get in touch with our Volunteer and Mentoring Project Manager Louise by emailing mentoring@kidsinspire.org.uk.
