A transformative Forth Valley College mentoring initiative – Time4Me - has secured further funding to continue its good work and organisers are now looking for 20 more staff volunteers to get involved.
Representatives from the Robertson Trust visited Forth Valley College recently (Monday 3 February) to see how their funding was helping the college’s Time4Me project and after a brilliant presentation to the Trust from Sarah Tervit FVC’s Mentor Coordinator, the college will receive a further £149,000.
Sarah said: “Following a visit to the College from the Robertson Trust by the Chair of their Scholarship Committee and a presentation to the Committee, we have now received formal approval for the next phase of Time4Me. The funding award of £149,000 will take the project from June 2020 to July 2022 and I think the current situation we are facing demonstrates more strongly than ever that young people facing additional challenges will need support.”
Pauline Barnaby, FVC’s Development and Fundraising Manager, said: “As a Fundraiser, it is a huge privilege to have been involved with this project from the development phase through the current stages and see how our partnership with The Robertson Trust has evolved.
“The long-term goal of The Trust is to influence policy at Government level, therefore Time4Me is playing a crucial role in supporting this change. Hopefully this partnership will go from strength to strength and we can continue to develop the project and support vulnerable young people to give them the opportunity to achieve their goals.”
Mark Laing, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, Gordon Hunt, Head of Scholarship & Learning and, DonnaMarie Steel, Scholarship Project Officer from the Robertson Trust met with Sarah Tervit FVC’s Mentor Coordinator, several active FVC staff mentors and mentee Charlotte Carney-Harrop a Level 2 Professional Cookery student.
More than 20 Forth Valley College staff are now fully trained mentors thanks to the project and able to support young students aged between15-26 year olds who may be care experienced, young carers or reside in regeneration areas.
The ‘Time4Me’ initiative initially received a £143,000 donation from The Robertson Trust yes based within the FVC Student Service change to equalities, Inclusion and learning services Department.
Training existing staff members to become volunteer mentors, reflects the College’s commitment to supporting young people who face challenging circumstances, helping them make a successful and sustained transition into college life.
Mentors help the mentees with goal setting, problem solving and communication and the young people taking part will gain confidence and develop skills which will help them with their studies, career and life goals.
After the visit, Gordon Hunt, Head of Scholarship and Learning at the Robertson Trust, said: “We are delighted with the progress of the Time4Me project and the positive impact it’s having on students and staff at the College. Meeting the mentors and Charlotte was inspirational, and it was particularly good to be able to visit them in the impressive surroundings of the new Falkirk Campus. We value our partnership with the College and are grateful to Sarah and the team for hosting our visit.”
Any member of staff who would like to find out more about volunteering or who may have any student referrals, should contact Sarah Tervit on sarah.tervit@forthvalley.ac.uk