Celebrating Volunteers’ Week with the Argyll & Bute TSI Awards tonight
Tonight is the Argyll and Bute TSI Awards ceremony, where MCR Pathways is proud to be a finalist for Volunteer Organisation of the Year award. Alongside this recognition, one of our exceptional volunteer mentors, Daniel Rimmer, has been nominated for Regional Volunteer of the Year.
Since becoming the first MCR mentor matched at Oban High School, Daniel has demonstrated unwavering commitment, meeting weekly with his mentee over the past 20 months. As Emma, the Pathways Coordinator at the school, said:
“Daniel is incredibly empathetic, understanding and non-judgemental, which is exactly what we ask for in our mentors. He has consistently shown up week after week and has been fundamental in supporting his mentee.
Daniel and his mentee are exactly what this programme is about. It is heart-warming to see how much their relationship has grown over time and to see how much Daniel means to his mentee who doesn’t let a lot of people into his circle of trust.”
Ahead of the awards ceremony later today, we caught up with Daniel to hear more about his journey, what motivates him, and why he believes mentoring is such a powerful way to support young people in navigating life’s challenges.
What inspired you to become a mentor with MCR Pathways?
“When I first heard about MCR Pathways, I was excited. Mentoring seemed a bit of a no-brainer for me – what better way to hopefully make a positive impact in a young person’s life.”
How has your mentoring experience been so far?
“When I was paired with my young person, we were able to quickly establish a strong connection, and hopefully I’ve been able to plant some seeds into his life around ideas of resilience, ambition and care for the wider community. It’s an increasingly challenging world for all of us to navigate, but especially our young people. Mentoring offers a way for us to help support these incredible young people through that world, so hopefully they will be able to make a positive impact on it – and who knows, maybe those seeds that have been planted in them will bear fruit and they will be able to pass that on to future generations as well!”
What does the nomination mean to you?
“As far as being nominated goes, it’s a huge honour to be recognised for this work, but I’d much rather this be about the MCR team and the young people MCR works with. I’m just doing my part, and that is something that we can all partner with MCR to do.”
What would you say to someone thinking about becoming a mentor?
“We all have experiences and skills to share with our young people, to hopefully help them become the best versions of themselves. So my advice to someone thinking about becoming a mentor is to absolutely go for it! It’s a really worthwhile thing to be part of, and you can make such a positive difference in a young person’s life. Equally, that young person adds into your own life as well, so I think we all become stronger out of it.”
If Daniel’s story has inspired you, now is the perfect time to become a mentor and make a difference in a young person’s life. Visit mcrpathways.org/become-a-mentor to learn more and register today.
