- Empower young people through mentoring
- In person
- An hour per week
- No experience needed
What is Empower
Empower pairs University of Southampton students with young people in the local area to empower, inspire and lead them to reach their true potential.
The programme benefits young people by providing near-to-peer mentoring which supports them to feel more confident setting goals and navigating challenges, be more self aware, have more self-belief and improve their relationships with others. Ultimately improving their expectations for future life. The programme will also benefit your engagement with the world around you, wellbeing and key skills such as confidence, resilience, leadership and teamwork.
I feel that I have gained confidence in speaking to people, and that I have developed leadership skills through having the opportunity to engineer sessions how I think they would be best, with my mentee in mind. These skills will be valuable for my future job applications and career!
Lorna Selby, Empower volunteer 2021-22
What you’ll be doing
As an Empower mentor you will attend at least six weekly sessions with your mentee. You can choose which projects you want to be a part of based on your availability and when the school wants the sessions to take place – this is usually early morning.
This term we will be working with local schools in the area, which will be confirmed shortly.
You will be mentoring on topics such as study skills, future career plans, and personal resilience. You will be given a mentor handbook which will be your guide through carrying out activities with your mentee.
How to get involved
To apply you need to complete an application form to let us know why you’re interested in Empower, your availability for training and when you’re available.
Once we’ve heard from you the next steps will be:
- Attending introductory training
- Attending project specific training, including child safeguarding
- Completing a DBS check, safeguarding quiz, and sending over a mentor bio so you can be matched with a young person
- Attending a booklet walk through session where you will go through the activities with your fellow mentors
If you have any questions, or require any support to get involved, don’t hesitate to contact the hub at info@southamptonhub.org
FAQ
There are loads of benefits for you if you get involved with Southampton Hub. These include:
- Having an impact in the community. You can make a difference and build a young person’s expectations for future life
- You will develop key skills including teamwork, leadership, resilience and confidence. This will be supported by the professional training you receive and the support you get throughout your experience
- A certificate recognising the commitment you’ve made, which you can put on your CV and share on Linkedin
We’ve assessed the accessibility of all our opportunities and are able to discuss these with you prior to you starting your placement, this includes any reasonable adjustments we can make. All accessibility information will also be sent to you prior to your placement as standard.
If you have any questions about accessibility, or want to make request a reasonable adjustment, please reach out to Catherine at catherine.taplin-thorpe@southamptonhub.org.
Some examples of reasonable adjustments we can offer include:
- Using an expensed taxi service to aid mobility conditions
- Making sure there is seating with no arms
- Extra time to complete activities in training, as you would get in exams
Our activities are all open for everyone so if you’ve not been involved in social action before, or you’re apprehensive about getting involved, reach out to Catherine at catherine.taplin-thorpe@southamptonhub.org. All of our opportunities practice a safe space policy meaning they are supportive, non-judgemental and always willing to listen.
We will be in touch as soon as we’ve read your application. We will let you know about upcoming training, our available opportunities and other key information to support the application process such as expectations to complete safeguarding training and get a DBS check.
DBS stands for Disclosure and Barring Service. These provide a UK criminal records check and are required when individuals are working closely with young people or adults at risk, or have access to sensitive information. In order to get your DBS check you will need:
- Your address history for the last five years
- Your national insurance number
- Your passport, driving license or other form of ID
Southampton Hub pays for the check and will support you at every step of the process. If you have a question about this check or want to make a self-disclosure about a criminal record please reach out to Catherine at catherine.taplin-thorpe@southamptonhub.org.
In order to support you to be confident working with young people as an Empower volunteer we deliver comprehensive training covering:
- Safeguarding, to ensure both you and the young people you work with are kept safe
- Mentoring techniques, to equip you with the tools you need to support the young people you work with effectively
- Working with young people, to give you the confidence you need to communicate with young people and manage behaviour
It’s natural to feel nervous when you try new things, but don’t let you put that off. If you want to talk to a member of our team before applying or attending a session you can email them. Or if you’re not sure who to speak to email info@southamptonhub.org and we’ll get back to you.
Some things we recommend often include joining the programme with a friend – you could sign up together and come to the same session so that you’ll have a friendly face. Alternatively, you could arrange to meet a member of our team before a session so that you get to know each other 1-1 and can travel together. We’ll work together to find a solution which supports you to get involved, whatever that may be.