From Mentee To Mentor: Keiarnya Grant-Blissett Volunteer Spotlight

Why did you begin volunteering with ReachOut?

I started off as a mentee at ReachOut when I was 14. I was on the ReachOut Academy project. I really enjoyed being part of ReachOut and they gave me the opportunity to be a Junior Mentor during their summer project.

In being a Junior Mentor, I was not only able to get a feel for being a mentor/ role model to younger children, but it also gave me experience of being responsible and professional. I continued being a Junior Mentor on a number of different projects until I was experienced enough to apply to be a Senior Mentor. The idea appealed to me as I wanted to give back to the world, and to help someone as someone helped me. 

What effect do you think you had on the young people while volunteering with ReachOut?

What was really important when I was mentored myself was that I had the same mentor each week, so I was really excited about having my own mentee. The regular contact really enabled me to build a strong bond with the young person. I tried to always make sure my mentee knew I was interested in how they were doing, and that I was always there to talk to them about their worries, their failures, and their successes. In our sessions we worked on short and long term goals such as trying to make sure all homework is completed on time (short term) or getting good enough grades to get into university (long term). 

I think being mentored helped my mentee to develop personally, to think about what was important to them, and helped them to develop strategies to reach their goals.

How do you feel you developed while volunteering with ReachOut and what skills did you gain?

By volunteering with ReachOut I have been given the opportunity to gain and develop skills. I definitely feel like I can communicate with people from all walks of life, whether they be young people or potential employers.  Working as a Senior Mentor with ReachOut allowed me to develop my leadership skills, and has encouraged me to take on more responsibility. 

More than anything, I feel like volunteering has increased my confidence.

Has Volunteering changed your views or perspective on anything?

By volunteering with Reachout, I have been given an insight into issues young people face in the community. It has allowed me to realise that without Reachout, I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am now, which makes me want to volunteer more to allow others to enjoy the benefits that I have. To be able to give young people that extra support and guidance they need to assist them in their life is so important. Overall I feel volunteering has not only allowed me to help young people in the community but has helped me to develop as a person and I am truly thankful for being given the opportunity.

ReachOut Turns Red, White and Blue for Ambassador Visit

On Monday 26 October, an audience of ReachOut young people were treated to a very special visit by the US Ambassador to the UK, Matthew Barzun.

Generously hosted by Bloomberg at their brilliant UK Head Office in Finsbury Square, Ambassador Barzun spoke with our young people about his experiences of working in diplomacy. There was also a chance for the young people to talk about what they thought were some of the best and worst things about the USA in 2015.

Mr Barzun opened the event by emphasising the importance of ‘listening’, sharing the remarkable story of when his boss, President Barack Obama, advised him on the first day of his new job that he would only succeed as an Ambassador if he took the time to listen to people.

Our young people were hooked on Ambassador Barzun from the start and, following this, he moved the event onto a wider discussion about their perceptions of the United States. Mr Barzun asked our young people a series of multiple choice questions about the USA which they could answer using handheld clickers. Their answers were then represented in real time as percentages on TV screens around the auditorium – just like an Ask the Audience lifeline on Who Wants to be a Millionaire!

The results from these questions prompted some great conversations and our young people really showed how clued up they are on current affairs by quizzing Ambassador Barzun at length on the likes of the American judicial system, gun crime, police brutality, racism and the death penalty.

Engaging and enthusiastic throughout, Mr Barzun wrapped up the event by emphasising to our young people that they are the future leaders of the UK, encouraging them to take advantage of every possible opportunity to work together with the USA to help change the world for the better. It’s safe to say that our young people (as well as their teachers and ReachOut staff!) left the event feeling very inspired!

Thank you again to both Ambassador Barzun and Bloomberg for what was a brilliant event. 

Get out of the student suburbs and explore!

ReachOut operates in two fantastic cities (London and Manchester)… we’ve highlighted a number of interesting things to see/do in each city that you may not come across if you stick to the university circuit – make sure you make the most of your city!

London:

You could do an undergraduate degree, a Masters and a Doctorate here and barely have time to scratch the surface of what London has to offer!

Here’s a quick ReachOut guide to the essential London:

Dalston/Shoreditch/Hoxton – London’s Hipster capital… Put aside any preconceived ideas you may hold about hipsters and make sure you check these areas out. There’s a lot of interesting stuff to see/do/eat/drink around here. Some of our favourites are: Red Dog Saloon, The Owl and The Pussycat, The Box Park, Blues Kitchen, Dishoom, Red Gallery and White Lyan (don’t forget to have a look at the street art around Shoreditch).

Theatre/Live Music – You’re in the theatre capital of the world (sorry Broadway), so make sure you experience some of the amazing live venues London has to offer. Have a look at the National Theatre for top quality theatre at *relatively* affordable prices. Alternatively, many of London’s smaller venues offer incredible live shows for great value – see: The Soho Theatre, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, The Royal Festival Hall, Arcola Theatre and Camden Roundhouse.

Other top tips - Take some time to wander around London – you’re sure to stumble across something worth seeing/doing. You should definitely have a look at: London’s outdoor markets - Portobello Market, Borough Market and Brixton market, Hampstead Heath (maybe even have a swim in the ponds), Stroll along the South Bank (there’s loads to see/do, especially during the summer), Dalston Roof Park, Frank’s Café (Peckham) and Electric Cinema.

Keep up to date with ReachOut London’s events and socials through social media:

Click here to join the official ReachOut FB page

Click here to join the Queen Mary University ReachOut Society FB page

Manchester:

Manchester has its own individual culture, nightlife and social scene. With the largest student population in Europe it stands to reason that there’s an enormous amount for you to do!  

Here are our top tips for Manchester:

Food –There are loads of great places to eat around Manchester. Check out: 'Luck, Lust, Liquor and Burn', This and That, Almost Famous, Australasia (pictured), Red’s BBQ and Home Sweet Home. Walk up and down the not quite mile long stretch of Oxford Road that makes up “The Curry Mile” and choose a place that takes your fancy… Mughli is a ReachOut favourite.

Drink/Nightlife – Does Manchester have the best nightlife in the UK? We can’t say for sure… but we certainly think so – make sure you don’t confine yourself to the standard student places. Manchester has got everything from great bars to electro-house club nights and live music venues. Have a look at: Liar’s Club, Mint Lounge, Soup Kitchen, A Place Called Common, Gorilla and Dog Bowl (pictured).

Other recommendations – Don’t miss out on visiting Home, a brand new contemporary arts space with two theatres offering an ever-changing collection of art house, foreign and non-Hollywood British movies (as well as the odd Blockbuster). It also has gallery space that is home to the very best in contemporary art. 

For other top tips, see: Music performances at the RNCM, plays at the Royal Exchange Theatre, all the things weird and wonderful purveyed at Affleck's Palace, the Nexus Art Café, and the newly renovated John Ryland Library (Deansgate).

Keep up to date with ReachOut Manchester’s events and socials through social media:

Clickhere to join the official ReachOut FB page

Clickhere to Join the Manchester University ReachOut Society FB page 

Roly Hunter - London

Jo Tripney - Manchester

Macquarie Get Sporty For ReachOut

A huge thank you to the staff at our strategic corporate partner, Macquarie, who last week organised two impressive fundraising events in support of ReachOut. These events were arranged as a part of Macquarie Foundation Week, an annual initiative which encourages staff globally to organise and participate in a range of community events for various charities.

Our relationship with Macquarie has grown and developed over the last 7 years. Beginning with a few employees volunteering weekly as mentors on our projects in Hackney, our relationship has evolved into a truly strategic partnership that now sees the bank providing us with annual grants, hosting ReachOut events and employability workshops for our young people and encouraging its staff to volunteer regularly with us.

During Macquarie Foundation Week, staff organised an intra-company football tournament where teams of employees from across the bank could get competitive for a good cause, battling it out on the football pitch to win the coveted ReachOut Champions trophy. With 12 teams involved, there was some decent footie on show as well as some rather cheesy team names – congratulations to the Credit Crunchers who took home the trophy!

Following on from the football tournament, staff then organised a rowathon in Macquarie’s reception. Over the course of a day, 80 people took turns to see how fast they could row 1,000m. Massive congratulations to our winners – Louis-Simon Huber and Valerie Osband – who sprint rowed the target distance in 3.03mins and 3.38mins, respectively.

With very generous matched funding from the Macquarie Group Foundation, employees raised over £8,000 for ReachOut across the two events – a brilliant achievement!

Thanks again and well done to all involved.  

Comfort Zones and the Growth Mindset: Two lessons in achieving your potential

Over the past couple of years I’ve learned two lessons that have dramatically changed my way of thinking and increased my personal confidence.

Lesson 1: Get out of your comfort zone.

I first came across the phrase “comfort zone = dead zone” on a stranger’s t-shirt whilst walking down the street. The t-shirt was black, the writing was white, bold and in your face. I felt affronted. “What’s wrong with my comfort zone?” I thought. “It’s comfortable!”

But that image kept nagging me and eventually I realised that this stranger’s t-shirt was right. Sure it’s comfortable in the comfort zone, but whilst passing time in your comfort zone you are not discovering new things, not overcoming new challenges, not learning new skills, and most importantly, not realising your potential!

So if we want ourselves, and the young people we work with at ReachOut, to achieve our potential, then lesson number one has to be: get out of your comfort zone, as often as possible.

Easier said than done. What if I try something new and fail? What if I go for a job interview and am rejected? What if I write a blog and no-one reads it? (Yes, I am outside my comfort zone right now, and it’s scary!) There are so many what ifs in my head, so many opportunities for failure, and that nagging fear that I might just discover things that I am not good at, proving that I have already reached my potential. These thoughts make me want to shrink back into my comfy comfort zone. This is why lesson 2 is so important.

Lesson 2: Exercise a growth mindset.

I then discovered the work of Carol Dweck and her concept of growth mindset. It was actually a teacher who introduced it to me, explaining that children with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed. These children focus on learning, rather than looking smart, they see effort as the key to success, and they thrive in the face of a challenge. On the flip side, children with a fixed mindset believe that people are born good or bad at stuff and can’t do much to change that. These children focus on looking smart rather than learning, they see effort as a sign of low ability (if you have to try, then you must not be good at it) and they wilt in the face of a challenge. Unsurprisingly, children with a growth mindset do better in school.

According to Dweck there are three attributes to growth mindset:

• Effort (which we at ReachOut would link to staying power and self-control) – the harder we try, the more we achieve.
• Using good strategies – find out what works, and do it again. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
• Proactive help seeking – it’s okay to ask others for help.

I recently moved to a new role at ReachOut, recruiting new staff, managing our database, preparing cash flows, and several other random things which I had never done before coming under the heading of “operations”. Most of the time I feel confident and positive about my work, but I am definitely out of my comfort zone and if it wasn’t for the discovery of growth mindset, I would have crumpled under the strain of feeling out of my depth and making many mistakes.

Instead, when faced with a new challenge rather than putting it off I make time to deal with it (effort), if I don’t know about something I “google it” (using good strategies) and when I hit a brick wall I consult a colleague, friend or one or our amazing Board of Advisers (proactive help seeking). In the end I get the job done and each time I succeed I feel more confident that I can handle being out of my comfort zone and achieve more. Something I couldn’t say two years ago.

My personal experience with growth mindset has convinced me that we should be teaching our young people that it is good when we find something hard and have to put effort in, pointing out what methods help them to overcome challenges, and encouraging them to ask for support when they need it. Therefore lesson number two is: exercise and promote a growth mindset. As mentors, if we can help our mentees with the three growth mindset attributes, we are well on the way to helping them be the best they can be.

Fran Ellis
London

If you'd like to know more about growth mindset, check out this 45 minute course for teachers. https://www.mindsetkit.org/growth-mindset