Voulenteer Mentor Review

To give an overview for this role, I will start off by saying that you need resilience as you will be working full time everyday within your team. This will include helping out in the classroom, mentoring at least six or eight students, and helping out in other ways, for instance, standing on duty in the cafeteria or welcoming the students on gate duty in the mornings and the evenings in all the Uk weathers.

I would definitely say that I have developed a wide range of skills from being a volunteer mentor at City Year. As I said previously, resilience is a big one. Considering this is a voluntary position, working full time from sun up to sound down can certainly be challenging, especially in the winter when it is so cold outside. Also, I would say my time management has also been developed this year by juggling so many things.

Yes, I would say that you are certainly thrown into the deep end from day one. As soon as you arrive at your school you are thrust into your routine from the get go. You are given a list of students who you will mentor for the entire duration of this programme and will also lead clubs, deliver sessions to students and be on hand to offer your support in the different classes, as you are needed.

As soon as you begin the programme, and are situated in a school, you will be with a team of other mentors. Also, you will have an impact officer who works part-time, and you will be able to seek guidance or support for them when and if needed. There are also people within the school who will be on hand to help you if this is needed. And the staff within the schools are always happy to help.

I absolutely loved my team, and would easily say that they were my highlight from my year as a City Year Mentor. However, the organisation (City Year) could do with a little remodelling. The training days were full of friendly staff but the ideas that were promoted (smiling and being positive no matter what) could be a little tiring and challenging at times. But, regardless, the people were generally quite a nice bunch to work with.

As I have previously stated, I really enjoyed the team that I worked with in the school for the duration of the programme. They were supportive and great. We luckily all had the same energy and were willing to help and support each other. This was by far the best, and will always be, my fondest memories when I look back to my year during COVID. And I'm sure all the other teams got on well too.

Yes

This is easy. When you apply for City Year UK, here is my advice: be positive. Be a happy and smiling individual who wants to work for a year in a school. Talk about your resilience and study the City Year culture so you know exactly what they are after. Tick all of their boxes, but most importantly: be yourself. Try to be genuine. If you want to work here, you really do need to WANT to.