My path to becoming a volunteer mentor at Kids Inspire

Our mentoring programme has been part of Kids Inspire for about 15 years, evolving significantly over this time. Currently, it’s supported by over 90 dedicated trained volunteer mentors across Essex. These incredible individuals are either actively mentoring, or eagerly awaiting to start their mentoring journey with a young person. We are so thankful for those that volunteer their time to help children and young people going through difficult stages in their lives. While some people come to Kids Inspire motivated by our mentoring programme, others decide to train after they’ve first volunteered in other ways. The latter is exactly the case for Veronica.

Meet Veronica

Veronica has been a volunteer for Kids Inspire for more than 10 years, but it wasn’t until 2021 that she decided to train as a mentor. Read what inspired her to become a mentor, all the best bits of her journey, as well as advice for those thinking about volunteering their time for this role.

Tell us about yourself

I am Dublin born and raised with seven siblings, so I like to believe that I have a very good sense of family life and all its ups and downs. I am an older mother to two daughters and both have not long left formal education. 

I have been part of the volunteering team at Kids Inspire for well over a decade now. I am passionate about their ethos and the positive impact that the charity makes to our community each and every day.

I must admit I do find it hard to talk about myself, but I would describe my personality as open, honest, authentic, empathetic, mature and emotionally intelligent. I always try to be aware of what’s happening in the world around us. Oh, and I also have a good sense of humour!

Why did you choose to train to be a mentor?

I have been a passionate and committed volunteer for Kids Inspire for over 10 years, but it wasn’t until 2021 that I trained to be a mentor. During my time volunteering and being at the Kids Inspire office I was always struck by the energy and passion of the therapists and counsellors. I observed how the mood of the young people would change after they finished their sessions with Kids Inspire.

I learned how the mentoring programme at Kids Inspire is proven to be a hugely important support system for families and young people who have challenges and struggles. In certain cases having a mentor before therapy support, or after therapy support, has made a huge difference to a child or young person’s mental health and recovery. I knew I wanted to be a part of this, and this motivation led me to train as a mentor.

What’s your favourite part of mentoring?

One of my favourite parts of mentoring is the opportunity to establish a strong, trusting relationship with a young person, especially during the initial weeks. Naturally, it takes a few sessions for both the mentor and the mentee to truly feel comfortable with each other. Before starting the mentoring journey, there's always an important meeting making sure that both the volunteer mentor and the young person are happy to move forward. It’s important to see whether you may ‘click’ with each other.

The time you spend together with a young person is fun and enjoyable – whether it’s a milkshake and cookie in a Costa, a walk in the park, a McDonald’s treat. The key is to let the mentee make the choices of what you do, so they feel comfortable and relaxed during your time together. What I love most about mentoring is the shared journey together, where the time spent talking and communicating is the most important!

How would you explain the role of a mentor?

A mentor can be described as a trusted, non-judgemental professional friend - someone who cares, someone who listens, someone you can tell anything to and won’t criticize you. A mentor is someone who will see your strengths and guide you to embrace these, empowering you for your future. 

Can you tell us about a personal highlight from your journey as a mentor?

My last mentee had a traumatic family history and their early years were very challenging. They were aware of their past, and were experiencing complex emotions because of this. 

After several sessions I began to understand that they didn’t find it easy to talk about their feelings. Our time together was always impactful, and while they did not ‘chat’ very much I knew that they still enjoyed it.

I used to meet them after school and after several months of meeting they said “I so love being with you. I love that you allow me to have my music on in your car. I think we definitely have a vibe.” I was so happy that they were able to express what our time together meant to them.  A contributing factor was that they downloaded their own music playlist onto my car sound system which we played while in the car together.  This meant a lot to them as they didn’t often get the opportunity to do this.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about becoming a mentor?

The advice I would give to anyone thinking about becoming a mentor is always expect the unexpected - no two days will be the same. Also make sure to plan your diary so that you are always available on a particular day each week - the commitment of weekly meetings is very important to the young person. During school holidays, session times can be extended so you can plan more activities if this works for you both.

Try to keep your time spent together mostly lighthearted, but be open to them having conversations with you about family and relationships with their friends in school. Let those conversations happen naturally.

Learn more about our mentoring programme, how you can refer a child or young person to Kids Inspire, or enquire about training to become a volunteer mentor.