We encourage, support and listen, broaden horizons, teach and share skills

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01483 426990

Charity no. 285543

Bringing learning and life-changing opportunities to people of all ages

Volunteering changes lives
Could it be yours?

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Interested in becoming a volunteer mentor?

We will give you training

The Surrey Care Trust provides free training run by our own staff. Taking part in the training does not commit you to anything, should you decide that mentoring is not for you after all.

Training is based on modules designed by the National Mentoring and Befriending Network (www.mandbf.org.uk). The three sessions each last three hours.

Click here for latest volunteer mentoring training courses

The commitment

Typically mentors would see a mentee for an hour once a week until the mentee has achieved the goals he or she has set for themselves.

Setting the boundaries

Meetings may take place at a café, library or other convenient public place, sometimes at our learning centres, or when mentoring young people under 16s in schools but never at a mentor or mentee’s home.

Supporting the mentors

Mentors have regular one-to-one meetings with one of the programme managers, as well as group meetings with other mentors to provide mutual support.

Find out more

More about our work

Working with young people

Swingbridge Community Boats

Stanwell Sure Start Children’s Centre

Crisis Grants

Every Life Tells a Story

Mentoring young people

Finding Your Way offers support and information to young people. We work with both under and over 16s.

Over 16s

Young people we mentor are those who have been on the Surrey Care Trust’s STEPS Under 16s and STEPS Ahead programmes in Staines and Woking or other short courses we have run. They are usually aged between 16 and 21.

Volunteers build a rapport with individual students and support them as they prepare to take their next steps in life and in the months after they have moved on.

These young adults are making decisions about whether they want to look for a job or enrol in further education or training.

They may need to be encouraged to make those decisions, or mentoring can also encourage them to aim for other personal goals that will help broaden their horizons.

The young people we work with have often had a tough start because of difficulties in school and in other parts of their lives.

When they move on it can be daunting, so the support of a mentor can help keep them motivated and feeling positive about their futures.

Under 16s

We also offer mentoring to young people who are still in school but are struggling in various ways. Some of them have already attended our 8-week STEPS School Inclusion programme so mentoring is a way of keeping in touch. The role of the mentor in this situation is to be a friendly, independent adult who can give a young person regular individual attention.

Outreach

We also provide mentoring to Under 16s in Guildford, Woking and across the boroughs of Elmbridge and Reigate & Banstead as part of a wider Surrey Youth Consortium project working with hard-to-reach young people.

This is an outreach programme aimed at young people who are at risk of becoming what is officially known as NEET (not in Education, Employment or Training). We won’t necessarily have had any previous contact with the young people we are trying to help.