Education Mentor (Volunteer)

Work directly with children / young people: Yes

Age range of children / young people: 11-18

Disclosure Check: Enhanced

Term of opportunity: We will need you to be available to work with us for a minimum of 1 year

Commitment: This role requires a minimum of 6 days of delivery during the academic year: August- June

Location: We are recruiting Education Mentors in Glasgow City Region (specifically in Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire & Renfrewshire) Edinburgh & Dundee

Volunteers are at the heart of everything we do. The King’s Trust couldn’t function without the support of thousands of volunteers across the UK, who are able to offer a vital network to young people facing significant barriers to jobs, education or training.

Our Education Mentors support groups of young people, within an educational setting to develop their confidence and skills and support their future employability. At the core of being a successful mentor is having belief in the potential of all young people and optimism for their future. Mentors will share their growth story and inspire and empower young people to raise their aspirations.

Young People have been demonstrating a keen interest in the following sectors: Hair & Beauty, Construction, Sports, Tech & Childcare. If you have a background in any of these sectors, we would love to hear from you.

What the role involves

By volunteering to be an Education Mentor, you will be helping to shape the next generation. You will be working with groups of young people who are taking part in The King’s Trust programmes.

You will be supported throughout the whole programme by school staff or a King’s Trust Youth Development Lead.

You and your fellow Education Mentors will deliver sessions with groups of young people. The frequency and time of these sessions differ, depending on the programme. Your King’s Trust contact will do everything possible to match you up with a school that suits your availability, as it is important that you are able to attend all sessions.

Training consists of completing online self-led modules, attending an online webinar and face-to face programme specific training with your dedicated Youth Development Lead.

All of the sessions will be face-to-face in the school or a King’s Trust Centre. There will be some preparation to do before these sessions (i.e., planning content or reading a fellow mentor’s delivery plan) so mentors will need to be well organised. A successful volunteer will feel comfortable and confident planning and delivering sessions to a group of up to 12 young people as well as leading smaller conversations and breakout activities.

What makes a great Education Mentor?

Passionate about Young People and making a change

You do not need an education background to apply for this position, however an interest in engaging with and developing the skills of young people is essential. Empathy and active listening are highly valued. Full training on the King’s Trust, health and safety and programmes will be provided.

Mentors will be required to deliver sessions that are designed to build young people’s socio-emotional and employability skills therefore it is important that mentors can role model these skills throughout the sessions.

The King’s Trust is committed to embed EDI into everything we do. We support a wide range of young people and aim to provide a group of mentors as diverse as the young people and the communities we serve.

Benefits of mentoring

• Support young people to reach their potential.
• Grow your communication and presentation skills
• Build your leadership and facilitation skills

• Improve your wellbeing- Giving back has been identified as 1 of 5 ways to wellbeing.
• Strengthen relationships within your local community
• Resources and training are provided free of charge
• Building Community links and contacts
• Access to other Prince’s Trust Networking and Volunteering Event

In return for your valuable time, we provide the benefits of being part of a dedicated community of colleagues and volunteers, the satisfaction of directly impacting our success, and the undoubted personal development and pleasure that comes from working for the cause of, or directly with, children and young people, the majority of whom face significant barriers and have significant challenges to overcome.

For more information, please click here to view the role description (note that this will open in a new window).

If you are an already existing volunteer, please don’t apply here and instead speak to your point of contact for more information on changing roles.

Here at The King's Trust, we're committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to be an organisation that's representative of the communities we serve, which is why we strive for diversity of age, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity and perspective. Our goal is to create an environment where everyone, from any background, can be themselves and do the best work of their lives.

We’re a Stonewall Top 100 Employer and we are an employer that is Disability Confident. Our staff, volunteers and young people are supported by KT CAN (our Cultural Awareness Network), KT GEN (Gender Equality Network), KT DAWN (Disability & Wellbeing Network) and PULSE (LGBTQIA+ Network). For more information, click here.

The King's Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. As part of this commitment, we undertake basic disclosure checks in accordance with the Codes of Practice for all roles within the Trust, and for our roles working directly with young people, at an enhanced level. Having a criminal record will not automatically exclude applicants.

We are committed to equality and believe in building a diverse organisation that is representative of and responsive to the needs of our young people and stakeholders.

Req ID: 3585