Reach Out, and make an impression

Sumaiyah is a second year law student at Queen Mary University of London.  She attends the ReachOut Club at Shacklewell Primary School weekly with 10 other volunteers and children, providing one-to-one support to her mentee and taking part in group activities such as sports, drama and art.

Volunteering on the ReachOut Club over the past year has been insightful on many levels, least of which was an opportunity to reminisce on what it was like to be a year 6 student. Having the chance to work with children who are slowly making their transition into secondary education has reminded me of the different challenges children face growing up.

By helping them to overcome some of the academic, personal and relationship struggles you face at that age, you are reminded of how tender and impactful these experiences are on children as they grow up. I know many of us could have benefited from a similar mentoring scheme, to help us develop outside of the traditional school format to work on personal goals that aren’t purely academic, but equally as important. 

My mentee came into the project very much a timid young girl, and as we slowly set small targets each week to work on her confidence, she soon blossomed. Along the way, it become apparent to me how much you can get out of mentees by giving them a gentle sway in the right direction. Sometimes that's all they need to reveal their true inner self. With these gentle nudges, I came to learn my mentee was a very insightful and creative poet, who had an appreciation for art and a great sensitivity to political issues. Seeing her come from a position where she winced at the idea of speaking in front of the class, to a point where she actually asked to present a poem to her peers highlighted how a little support can help children to develop and find skills they never thought they had.

Remembering how impressionable I was myself at that age, I realised how the small step in developing my mentee’s confidence may well influence her for the rest of her life. You hope as a mentor that she takes her newfound confidence with her, as she begins secondary education and truly finds her feet in this world.

It is this that makes ReachOut such a rewarding charity to volunteer for. The fact that we can help young people to take those steps in finding and developing themselves at such an impressionable age, means as volunteers we could be helping them in ways far greater than we see. The development that mentors see in the young people on projects each week is just the start of an improvement in character values and competence that will stay with the mentees for life. For that alone, ReachOut mentoring truly works. 

Sumaiyah Batha

ReachOut Club Volunteer