Volunteer Spotlight: Jane Sidebottom

Jane is a senior Civil Servant in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She volunteers as a mentor on a ReachOut Academy project in east London.

“I’ve loved being involved with Reachout over the last ten years. It’s grown from a new organisation to an established part of the community, with more and more participants each year. I’ve been a regular mentor with them for three years and what keeps me coming back are three things.

First and foremost, it’s a lot of fun. It is so energising at the end of a busy day to arrive in a classroom full of people who have all had a very different day from you and to spend an hour with them. You never know what that is going to involve – with those I mentor I’ve discussed everything from the Maths and English tasks set by the session leader, to choosing GCSEs, A levels and career paths, the causes of World War One, irregular French verbs and the latest school gossip. I’m certainly not an expert in all those things, but as a mentor I don’t necessarily need to be – my job is to listen and ask questions to help others stretch themselves and reach their potential, in and outside school.

Second, I think it’s important for all of us to have as much contact with as diverse a group of people as possible. In the hour a week I spend with a group of teenagers and their mentors I usually get a different perspective than from my other friends or colleagues. That shapes my view of the world and has had an impact on the way I think about a lot of things – from politics to who should go out with who on Made In Chelsea. And I hope that works the other way around too. I hope that through their contact with me, the kids I mentor can see that the path I’ve taken and career I’ve chosen are also open to them.

Third, it’s easy. Finding an hour a week is something most people can manage, and that’s all Reachout asks of you. You can easily see what a difference that makes, whether in the space of the hour you spend with the person you mentor, or over the months as the stories come through of improved performance and behaviour at school or other achievements. That contributes to a strong feeling of community and I’m really proud to be part of that.”

Edward Timpson MP visits ReachOut

On Thursday 5^th November, Edward Timpson MP dropped into the Year 7 and 8 ReachOut Academy at Our Lady’s in Higher Blackley, Manchester.

During his visit, Edward chatted with the mentees and mentors during the one to one mentoring session, finding out what ReachOut means to them.  Former mentee, now Senior Mentor Keiarnya Grant-Blissett, chatted with Edward about her journey through ReachOut and the support she had received from her Mentor. She spoke about how ReachOut helped her to embark on a degree in Childcare Studies and the skills she has been learning from her time as a mentor.

In the group activity, Edward helped the mentees and mentors as they worked together on the Balloon Couch Challenge. This great relationship building activity provides the perfect environment for our mentees and mentors to get to know each other while having fun: planning, building and then testing the strength of their couches by sitting on them for 30 seconds.

On his experience at ReachOut, he had this to say, "I was really pleased to visit Our Lady's High School for the ReachOut project, and was delighted to see first hand all of the hard work that has gone into raising the students' aspirations and building character. I look forward to hearing more about ReachOut's work in the future and wish them all the best with the projects planned."

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Edward Timpson for taking the time to visit our project and to chat with our mentees and mentors, we hope to see you again soon.

Heidi

Manchester

Barclays Volunteers Pass On Their Skills

During October, Barclays hosted a number of workshops with ReachOut as part of ‘Make a Difference Month’, an internal global campaign encouraging Barclays staff from all over the world to volunteer their time and skills to help bring about positive change.

On one of those workshops, twenty students from Bishop Challoner school jumped on the DLR to Canary Wharf for a workshop on public speaking. After a quick game of Pictionary to break the ice, the young people were given the challenge to write a short speech on ‘The two people I would most like to meet and why’. Breaking off into small groups, the students wrote and delivered their speeches all receiving individual tips and feedback from the Barclays staff. Speech topics ranged from Simon Cowell to Nelson Mandela, but what they all had in common was how well they were delivered and the great amount of effort the young people put in. The workshop ended in over half of the young people delivering their speeches to a room of over 30 people – a great achievement!

Later in the month, 25 students from Heartlands High School took part in a challenge to plan and budget their own summer festival with the winning team securing a £25,000 loan from Barclays. The group were broken off into 4 teams: ‘The Best’; ‘The Wizards of Oz’; ‘3 steps Ahead’ and ‘Money Makers’. After meticulously planning the festivals and double checking their budget sheets, the teams presented their pitches to a panel of judges including Cathy Abell from the Barclays Citizenship and Reputation team. All of the pitches were brilliant and many of the students discovered hidden talents in marketing and finance.

Cathy Abell commented, “Our volunteers have really enjoyed getting involved in these sessions and seeing first-hand the great work that ReachOut does. We’re looking forward to supporting more of these sessions going forward”.

We would like to say a huge thank you to the 30 + volunteers from Barclays who gave up their time during the month to support the ReachOut students – we hope they enjoyed the experience as much as our young people did! We would also like to thank the students from the following schools who were involved in the four workshops hosted over the month: Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate School; Haggerston School, Heartlands High School and The Petchey Academy.   

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.