It’s our second “Meet Our Mentor” on day 3 of Volunteer Week!
As part of the nation-wide #volunteersweek campaign we’re delighted to showcase Young Glasgow Talent’s amazing volunteers.
Our fabulous mentors are making life-changing differences to Glasgow’s disadvantaged young people. Our city’s young people are disadvantaged through no fault of their own. Our mentors help them find, grow and use their talents.
We really can’t celebrate them enough! So this week we’re letting you get up close and personal with them. Find out what makes them tick and learn more becoming a part of our amazing community!
Full Name: Sarah Fisher
Mentoring School: Drumchapel High school
Length of Time Mentoring: Since beginning of January
Q1: What first inspired you to get involved in our YGT mentoring programme?
I was interested in giving back to the community and doing something a bit different. I thought it would be really nice to take some time out of the usual working day to go and do something to help someone else. I’ve always enjoyed working with children but unfortunately never got the opportunity previously in my day job, so this worked perfectly for me!
Q2: How was your very first meeting with your young person?
I think we were both pretty nervous at the beginning, as neither of us really knew what to expect from one another. The MCR Pathways Coordinator stayed in the room on our first meeting and then after we got settled with each other we decided to have our meetings outside and went for walks. Over time the conversation flowed more freely.
Q3: How much have you seen your young person grow and develop since that first meeting?
At first, my young person was quite shy but now she has grown much more confident in my company. She has opened up about her family, friends and school work and is filling me in on more personal information every time I see her. She has visited my place of work and has learnt about how our business runs here at Edrington. She is more confident in her studies and knows she can rely on me to be there if she needs a chat about anything.
Q4: With your support and with your young person’s motivation, commitment and resilience, what stage has your mentee now reached in their journey?
She still has another year of school to do and has now said she plans to see it through to the end. At the beginning it was touch and go as to whether she intended on staying for her final year. She is making excellent progress.
Q5: How unique has this experience been for you? How rewarding has it been to see your mentee grow and develop under your invaluable support?
It has been an excellent experience getting to know her. She is a very bright and fun individual and never fails to make me laugh every time I visit.
Q6: What has been the major highlight of your experience so far with your young person?
My highlight so far was seeing how she interacted with my work colleagues. She was oozing confidence and seemed to really enjoy herself. Everyone loved her and she did me proud.
Q7: What would you say to someone that has been inspired by our amazing community and is looking to get involved in the YGT programme?
I would say that it is a wonderful programme to be part of. It can be about giving a young person a slight nudge in the right direction or just being there as someone else to talk to. It’s also a nice feeling to be doing something to help a young person.
More young people than ever before are signing up for the YGT programme. Can you support them by becoming a volunteer mentor? Just visit this link. You’ll be joining an amazing community! Full of like minded and committed people. Keep an eye on our website, Facebook , Linkedin and Twitter until 12th June to meet many more!
If you’d like to hear what our young people have to say first hand, watch our youtube video here:
Is there a friend or family member that you know would make a perfect mentor. Send them our way! We’re looking for new mentors to match with young people at our new schools. We have loads of new young people waiting. You or someone you know could be the perfect mentor for them! Visit our website and find out more today.
