A total of 30 Forth Valley College staff are now fully trained mentors and ready to support young students from the start of the 2018//19 academic year.
As part of the ‘Time4Me’ initiative – a new mentoring support scheme funded by a £143,000 donation from The Robertson Trust and run through Forth Valley College - the mentoring programme will initially run for two and a half years and be based within the FVC Student Services Department.
An innovative aspect of ‘Time4Me’ is that throughout the summer College staff have been trained to become volunteer mentors, reflecting the College’s commitment to supporting young people facing challenging circumstances and helping them to make a successful transition from school into college life. Mentoring is aimed at 15-25 year olds who may be care experienced, young carers or reside in regeneration areas.
It is hoped that through the project mentors will 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.
Sarah Tervit, FVC’s Mentor Coordinator, said: “The four training sessions we have had over the summer have been amazing and from the feedback I have received it seems that everyone has enjoyed it and they are ready for mentoring.
"I am delighted and overwhelmed by the response from staff wanting to get involved and give up at least an hour of their time a week to help develop young people. We will be recruiting even more Mentors in the next few months, but for now, we are focussed on recruiting young people to participate. As such, we need staff to contact us with referrals of students who they feel would benefit from Time4Me.”
Gordon Hunt, Head of Scholarship at The Robertson Trust, said: “The Robertson Trust is committed to contributing to the evidence base around what works when trying to widen access to further and higher education.
“We are very pleased to support ‘Time4Me as part of our growing portfolio of projects in this area and look forward to working with the team at Forth Valley College going forward.
“It’s an exciting and innovative project and one that I’m sure will be of great benefit to young people in the Forth valley area.”
Jean Duff, Head of FVC’s Student Services Department, said: “I am delighted to be involved with the Robertson Trust on the ‘Time4Me’ Project. It is an exciting opportunity for young people in Forth Valley to be supported in their transition from school to college through this mentoring project. It is also an opportunity for FVC staff to become involved as volunteer mentors which will assist in their professional development.”
Any member of staff who may have any student referrals should contact Sarah Tervit on sarah.tervit@forthvalley.ac.uk