Would you like to support an asylum-seeking or refugee young person with their education? Refugee Education UK is looking for volunteers to act as educational mentors for at-risk young refugees, asylum seekers, and survivors of trafficking.
Educational mentors meet with their mentees once a week, in a public place, to help them with an agreed aspect of their education (mainly ESOL-related) for a minimum of six months. Mentors who apply to work with us go through an application process involving an interview, external references and a DBS check before they attend our mandatory training which covers child protection, boundaries, the asylum process, and how to structure mentoring sessions.
We ask the mentor to start their mentoring session by 5:30 pm at the latest on a regular weekday and we ask both mentors and mentees to commit for at least 6 months.
Mentors get the chance to be positive influences and role models in the lives of young people arriving in the UK with limited support networks.
Here is a testimonial from a current mentor and on the things he has enjoyed from volunteering:
There are more than I could list here, but one of the main ones for me is when your mentee makes a breakthrough on something that was giving them difficulty, especially after you've been working on it together for a while. I've also really enjoyed seeing my mentees flourishing and doing well in their lives, like when they get through their exams or when you hear about the activities they are enjoying outside of education. It's a real privilege to share part of someone's life through the mentoring role. - Duncan L. 2023
All new educational mentors will attend our New Mentor Training to get you ready for your matches.
We also have quarterly mentor development trainings that provides opportunities for continued learning and connection among the mentoring hub. Past trainings have included topics on ESOL, boundaries, revision strategies and more.
- Experience of working with young people and the related challenges (ie: flexibility and patience sometimes required for youth work).
- Capacity to travel to a location convenient for the young person and an ability to meet the young person by 5:30 pm at the latest.
- Experience of working with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.
- Ability to work on own initiative and a willingness to take on relevant preparation.
- Ability to think creatively and problem-solve.
- Excellent communication/interpersonal skills.
- Good organisational skills.
- Ability to cope with emotionally-demanding and stressful situations.
- Motivated by promoting the wellbeing of children and young people.
- Commitment to and ability to work in accordance with REUK’s Child Protection policies and Christian Ethos.
Similar Opportunities
This volunteer role will give you the opportunity to befriend and support others in your local community. Our Carers Service volunteers support relatives and friends of our patients by providing providing companionship and emotional support.
As a member of the Empowered Living Team (ELT) the volunteers role is to assist in the delivery of therapy to patients in Newham, Tower Hamlets and City & Hackney to enable them to live their lives with as much independence and quality of life
Dementia Wellbeing East London needs volunteers to offer Practical, social and emotional support to people living in their homes in Newham, City & Hackney and Tower Hamlets affected by advanced dementia.
