Mentoring is essentially providing advice and guidance to someone.  This generally takes the form of an adult or older peer guiding someone younger than themselves by imparting knowledge and experience.

There are many stories as to where mentoring comes from, one of the most prominent is from Greek Legend where King Odysseus left his son in the care of a tutor called Mentor while he fought in the Trojan War.  The belief is that the term “Mentoring” was derived from this man’s name.

One of the earliest mentoring projects is the Big Brother and Big sister programme in America.  They have been very successful in supporting young men and women through the stages of childhood to adulthood.  Their success has inspired numerous projects and organisations throughout the world to mirror the support given to young boys and girls.

What does a mentor do?

The role of a mentor is to befriend a young person, forming part of a support system made up of personal, professional and sometimes statutory agencies.  The mentor will focus on key areas of support, including but not limited to:

• Personal development
• Building self confidence / esteem
• Expanding vision
• Achieving personal, educational and career goals
• Strengthening personal and family relationships
• Achieving conscious competence

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