A heartwarming evening sharing inspiring stories and celebrating the transformative power of mentoring.
On Wednesday, 26 March, MCR Pathways marked a momentous evening by inviting mentors in Glasgow to come together, share stories, and celebrate their remarkable mentoring journeys.
The evening was hosted by MCR at Edrington, a partner of MCR Pathways who provide support through encouraging members of their own staff to volunteer as mentors. The night featured several of our mentors sharing their experiences against the beautiful backdrop of the Glasgow skyline.
Our first speaker was mentor Olivia McHugh, who is now mentoring her second young person after being surprised by how rewarding her initial mentoring relationship was for both her and her mentee.
“Over the course of the three years that I mentored them, it was amazing to see them transform from this shy, quiet person into someone who was confident – and crucially – able to recognise their own achievements. That was the best thing about it, to be able to see them grow.”
Olivia expressed that she was apprehensive when deciding whether or not to sign up for another mentee once her first young person had moved on to University, but says she is extremely glad that she did.
“It’s a fantastic way to be able to give back to your community. It’s such a great opportunity to draw on your own experiences, and to learn from someone else’s experiences as well. And most of all, it’s a privilege to be involved so closely in a young person’s life and get to watch them grow and flourish into the person they will be when they leave school.”
Our next speaker, Douglas Hutchison, Executive Director of Education Services at Glasgow City Council, emphasised the need for programmes like ours which provide vital support and encouragement for young people across the country.
Addressing the room, Douglas said, “The work you do as mentors is taking action in the face of the challenges our young people face. The work of you as mentors may already have nudged more than a few young people in the right direction, giving them a sense of their own worth, giving them a feeling that they are worth investing time in. That you as mentors are the good adult who can bring hope where there is despair. We need to be in the business of hope and we need to bring that to our young people. Education is an investment for the future. The work you do is an investment in the present and an investment in the future.”
Douglas went on to stress the stark importance of investing in education as a vehicle for social mobility, stressing that “learning must be the route out of ignorance and fear” amongst times of social and political division.
After a brief break for refreshments, those in attendance were privileged to hear about the mentoring journey of Glasgow mentor Bill Armstrong. Much like Olivia, Bill is now mentoring his second young person after finding his first mentoring experience more rewarding than he could have imagined.
Bill struggled at first with his first mentee, who was a very quiet young person who had faced a lot of hardships in their young life, “I felt about as far out of my depth and out of my comfort zone as I have ever been. I couldn’t see how they were ever going to overcome the challenges facing them. But they did. The day they told me they’d been accepted to university was like all my Christmases and birthdays rolled into one.”
Once matched with his second mentee, Bill had to leave Glasgow for an extended period of time and worried about the effect that this may have on his relationship with the young person. However, while away, Bill sent his young person various postcards which hang on the young person’s fridge door to this day.
Summarising his mentoring experience so far, Bill said, “Helping these two young people make sense of the cards life has dealt them, watching their confidence and resilience grow, and seeing them mature and exceed expectations, has been great, sure. But just as wonderful is what they have taught me.
My first mentee taught me more about noticing and reading non-verbal communication than any number of courses could ever have done. When they decided to trust me and open up about the multiple identity crises they were facing, it opened my eyes to a whole new world and they made me see it through different eyes. And that is an invaluable gift.
My second young person has already made me a better and more careful listener. He’s taught me to listen to what is behind what is being said. Watching him grow and find ways of asserting himself has taught me much about setting boundaries in my own life.
What I’ve learned from these two young people has improved my relationships with my partner, with my family and friends and with work colleagues. Being a mentor has helped me to live according to the values that most enrich my life. And bottom line is, mentoring is making me a happier person. And given the difference having a mentor makes to a young person’s life, that’s as complete a win-win as you’re ever likely to get.”
Wrapping up an incredible evening of laughs, tears and stories that inspire hope and resilience, MCR Pathways Founder Iain MacRitchie shared some parting words, “It’s such a privilege to have so many of our Glasgow mentors coming together to share the fantastic stories of transformation we;re seeing with our young people just from giving them one adult that they can trust. MCR Pathways has been in Glasgow for eighteen years now, and we can’t wait to see what happens in the next eighteen, across the city and across the country.”
If you feel inspired by the incredible stories, now is the perfect time to get involved. There are still so many young people across Glasgow – and beyond – who are waiting for someone like you to support and guide them.
Learn more about how you can make a life-changing impact by visiting mcrpathways.org/become-a-mentor, or by emailing glasgow@mcrpathways.org.
