Re-establish hopeful futures for young refugees and asylum seekers through education - Become a volunteer mentor at Refugee Education UK
Refugee Education UK
Would you like to support an asylum-seeking or refugee young person with their education? Refugee Education UK is looking for volunteers to act as educational mentors for at-risk young refugees, asylum seekers, and survivors of trafficking.
In conflict, schools are destroyed, occupied by armed groups and used to shelter displaced people. Where learning continues, students and teachers can be targets of violence. For many, continuing to learn is just not possible. When children and families are forced to flee their homes, they miss out on more education as they make dangerous journeys trying to find a place of safety. For refugees arriving in the UK, education is a priority: it’s how lives begin to be rebuilt and hope for the future is rekindled. But getting back into and progressing in education is fraught with challenge. Your role as volunteer educational mentors at Refugee Education UK can help plug the gap and make the difference. What you will do? Educational mentors meet with their mentees once a week, in a public place, to help them with an agreed aspect of their education for a minimum of six months. This is typically in the form of English and maths support but mentoring can take different forms, from structured sessions around English reading to conversational goals set by the mentee. We provide support in providing you with resources and training to feel equipped to support your mentee. Mentors who apply to work with us go through an application process involving an interview, external references and a DBS check before they attend our mandatory training which covers child protection, boundaries, the asylum process, and how to structure mentoring sessions. We ask the mentor to start their mentoring session by 5:30 pm at the latest on a regular weekday and we ask both mentors and mentees to commit for at least 6 months.
Befriending, Buddying & Mentoring,Youth Activities,General & Helping
IT skills - basic, Language Skills, Managing People, Maths, Reading & Writing, Teaching, mentoring & coaching
We accept volunteers with a wide range of skills and experiences. Why? Because the young people we work with also have a wide range of aspirations and YOUR skills can help someone grow. 1. Experience of working with young people and the related challenges (ie: flexibility and patience sometimes required for youth work). 2. Capacity to travel to a location convenient for the young person and an ability to meet the young person by 5:30 pm at the latest. 3. Experience of working with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. 4. Ability to work on own initiative and a willingness to take on relevant preparation. 5. Ability to think creatively and problem-solve. 6. Excellent communication/interpersonal skills. 7. Good organisational skills. 8. Ability to cope with emotionally-demanding and stressful situations. 9. Motivated by promoting the wellbeing of children and young people. 10. Commitment to and ability to work in accordance with REUK’s Child Protection policies and Christian Ethos: https://www.reuk.org/our-story
Mentors get the chance to be positive influences and role models in the lives of young people arriving in the UK with limited support networks. Here is a testimonial from a current mentor and on the things he has enjoyed from volunteering: There are more than I could list here, but one of the main ones for me is when your mentee makes a breakthrough on something that was giving them difficulty, especially after you've been working on it together for a while. I've also really enjoyed seeing my mentees flourishing and doing well in their lives, like when they get through their exams or when you hear about the activities they are enjoying outside of education. It's a real privilege to share part of someone's life through the mentoring role. - Duncan L. 2023 With our quarterly mentor and mentee socials, we hope to build community across our members throughout London.
The mentoring will take place once a week, for one hour a week.
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Volunteering takes place in spaces like libraries and cafes in your local area. Our mentoring matches are made in locations that work best for the mentor and mentee so do let us know which areas work best for you.
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