Nicky Carew - Progression Mentor
What motivated you to volunteer with The Trust?
I was motivated to volunteer with The Prince's Trust because I
admire what they do. There isn’t enough support for young people
these days. Too many are given up as lost causes but, as The
Trust shows, many of these people can be supported to find a
positive focus in life. I am always moved by Team Presentations
when the participants state what the programme has given them.
Tell us about the key role/s you've held during your time with
The Prince's Trust
I was trained to be both a business mentor and a Team
progression mentor. To date I have been a progression mentor to
about six people.
What challenges have you faced and how did you overcome
them?
The challenges for me are to give meaningful support to the
young when there are so few opportunities for them in our area. The
most difficult for me are the ones who are nearly 21 or over when
the opportunities for funding support for college training is
running out. Surely it is better to offer a training programme when
they know what they want to do rather than force them when they
feel so disenfranchised after a bad experience in school.
You have to somehow help your mentee feel confident enough to
fight for what they want – talk their way into jobs that will be
the first rung on the ladder or not to be fobbed off by the
authorities. Help them see a future and help them plan for it.
These kids haven’t had the structure and guidance from a young age
so it is hard for them to get that first step up.
What was the most positive experience you had while
volunteering?
Every mentee that goes way with something positive is a good
outcome. Even the ones that seem to drift away you have to trust
that they have taken a constructive message from the support.
Do you have any advice or guidance for new volunteers?
Hang on in there… don’t get disillusioned. Sometimes they don’t
respond, sometimes they drift away, sometimes they do great
things.
Trust that the process that you are trained to
do, will touch them in some way, at some time in their life.