From day one of working with Stephanie it’s been exciting and I’ve loved having the opportunity to support her. I really enjoy our meetings. I feel she has come on leaps and bounds and I’m excited to play a part in her future!
MCR Pathways is completely dedicated to ensuring every single care experienced and disadvantaged young person is afforded the same educational opportunities and support as their peers.
As our #HelpingHands campaign continues, we’re sharing the incredible stories of our volunteer mentors, young people and partners. To inspire 1000 more Glaswegians to get involved. To offer your helping hand!
The only qualification you need is to want to help a young person. To offer a listening, supportive ear for one hour per week.
We heard the incredibly inspiring story from MCR’s Young Glasgow Talent Stephanie. A journalist in the making, Stephanie grabbed the opportunities MCR offered her with both hands. Thanks to an empowering Talent Taster at the Herald, and her fantastic commitment, Stephanie was invited back for a week long opportunity.
Behind every YGT young person is a supportive and dedicated mentor. There just to listen to what they have to say, and guide them down their chosen pathway.
Today, Helen shares with us the other side of the mentoring relationship. What she gets from empowering a young person’s confidence and career aspirations. From encouraging Stephanie to pursue fantastic opportunities at The Herald, BBC Radio Scotland and STV. Both Helen and Stephanie’s experiences are just as exciting, rewarding and as vital as each other in this mentor and mentee relationship!
Here’s Helen’s phenomenal story:
How exciting has it been to guide and support Stephanie as she’s made the decision to pursue journalism?
From day one of working with Stephanie it’s been exciting and I’ve loved having the opportunity to support her. The decision to pursue journalism has been part of a 2 year conversation to consider and explore career options and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being part of this.
How does it make you feel to know that you’ve helped her make such a significant discovery in her life?
I feel very lucky to have been part of her life for the last 2 years and I’m happy to have played any part in her journey towards exploring journalism.
What progress do you feel Stephanie has made towards her journalism ambition since you first met her?
I feel she’s came on leaps and bounds and I’m really proud that in the short time we’ve worked together she’s been to Radio Scotland for a day to see the Janice Forsyth show being produced and going out live, been to STV studios to watch a show going out live, a week’s work experience at the BBC and recently The Herald Talent Taster and week long participation. All of these things have been fantastic for Stephanie to experience and she’s definitely grown in confidence as a result.
How beneficial was her visit to The Herald, where she was working so closely with the Editor in Chief and Deputy Editor?
This was very beneficial, particularly since this resulted in her having an article printed in the Saturday Herald magazine. Stephanie made a great impression with the staff there who gave excellent feedback on her visit. I’d like to say a big thank you to Barclay McBain & his team at The Herald for giving Stephanie this great opportunity and being so welcoming to her during her visit.
How excited are you to see Stephanie pursue her journalism ambition and how do you see her time at school and beyond progressing?
I’m very excited about this. The feedback she’s received from the BBC and The Herald has been so positive, with the contacts saying that they can see her pursuing a great career in journalism. She’s impressed people wherever she has went! I think this is just the start of exciting times for Stephanie. I believe she’ll do well at school and continue to progress towards her goals beyond school, whether this be doing a modern apprenticeship and then university, or straight to university.
I believe Stephanie and I were well matched from day one. We’ve laughed from day one and I really enjoy our meetings. I’m excited to play a part in her future and see what great things the new term brings! I’m so pleased for Stephanie that she was working in The Herald – what a brilliant experience for her! P.S great blog Stephanie!!
We have many more young people like Stephanie signing up for Young Glasgow Talent’s help. They need mentors to make a huge difference to their confidence, educational outcomes and future life chances. Can you help them? You’ll guide disadvantaged, but utterly deserving and ambitious, young people through their education. Find out more about becoming a mentor.
Can your organisation help? To become involved in our Talent Taster programme, alongside our partners such as Glasgow Life and The Herald, simply GET INVOLVED!! We can’t wait to work with you to offer our city’s most needy a gateway to an expanding menu of opportunities and tasters of university, college and employment.
We’re always looking for new mentors to reach all the new young people who are coming on board with the programme. Help us spread the word by letting your friends and family know how worthwhile mentoring can be!
