ReachOut is a national mentoring and education charity, rooted in local communities. Working in under-resourced areas, we support young people to grow in character and confidence, sparking change in themselves and society. Our volunteer mentors are at the heart of everything we do.
If you’d like to help a young person develop their character and confidence, you’ve come to the right place!
As a volunteer mentor, you’ll be supporting young people in your local community, helping them grow in character and confidence, all whilst developing your own skills and experience.
At ReachOut, we work with amazing young people who need some additional support to reach and be confident in their potential.
By becoming a volunteer mentor, you’ll be providing an additional role model to a brilliant young person, helping them to grow in confidence and character over the course of the year.
Every year, we see the enormous impact that mentoring has on the young people we work with. Take a look at our video to hear from the young people themselves about what it means to them.
“My mentor helped me a lot because when I tried to say something I couldn’t express it, but he told me that I could try and keep trying, even if I get it wrong, so that I can express myself better.”
Rawan, ReachOut Mentee
Mentoring doesn’t just impact the young people who take part in our projects – it has a hugely beneficial impact on our mentors as well.
We run three types of projects – ReachOut Club which takes place in primary schools with young people aged 9-11; ReachOut Academy which takes place in high schools with young people aged 11-16 and ReachOut + a programme that works with ReachOut alumni aged 16-19, helping them with the transition from school to whatever comes next.
Find out more about the work we do in each project:
ReachOut Club projects run straight after school for Years 5 and 6. Each project supports 10 young people for 20 weeks. The sessions involve one-to-one Maths and English activities focusing on building academic confidence, character and growth mind-set, combined with fun group activities such as sports, arts and crafts.
Mentors encourage their mentees to reflect on their use of good character in and outside of school.
Providing young people with their own mentor whilst in Year 5 and 6 helps them to prepare for the challenging transition into secondary school for Key Stage 2 assessments (SATs).
ReachOut Academy projects run in the evenings for Year 7 – Year 11. Each project supports 16 young people and runs for 30 weeks.
Each two-hour session includes an hour of one-to-one individual academic mentoring focusing on Maths and English and group activities all centred around developing character. The second hour is an extra-curricular group activity also centred around character, such as football coaching, drama or yoga!
Our mentors help young people navigate through challenging teenage years and ultimately prepare them for crucial GCSE exams and transition into further education and work.
We run mentoring projects across London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Yorkshire. The majority of our projects across all regions are in-person, but some projects take place online via zoom. All our mentoring locations are in close proximity to public transport so you’ll be able to travel to and from them easily.
To sign-up as a ReachOut mentor, just head over to our online application form. From there, we’ll be in touch with information about booking on to one of our regular mentor training sessions.
After you’ve applied to be a mentor, you’ll be invited to an in-person or online mentor training session, where our volunteer team will talk you through everything you need to know about being an amazing mentor. You’ll also be able to ask them any questions about what it means to be a volunteer mentor.
Training includes a detailed e-learning module on safeguarding so you can feel secure in your understanding of your responsibilities when working with young people.
You’ll also be asked to provide information for a DBS Check which will be paid for by ReachOut.
After completing your mentor training you’ll be able to let us know what project you’d like to volunteer on. We’ll send you a timetable of our projects so you can pick the dates and locations that fit you best. Projects are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, but we’ll always do our best to get you on a project that works for you!
I’ve you’ve got any questions about volunteering as a mentor with ReachOut we’d love to hear from you! Just fill in the short form below and we’ll be in touch
Alice McGILL
Sia Kampouri
“Hello, we’re Alice and Sia, ReachOut’s Volunteer Officers. Our role at ReachOut is to support you throughout your time as a volunteer mentor. Volunteering as a mentor to a young person is a fantastic way to make a difference and give back to your community, and you’ll be part of our brilliant community of volunteers. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!”
“At first, I was really hesitant to take on the Project Leader role, despite having mentored with ReachOut. However, with the support of the team I’ve really developed my skills. For example, at the Mentee Graduation, I stood up in front of 200 people and presented an award which is something I would never ever have been able to have done before, and isn’t an opportunity I could gain in my other situations.”
Amy McCutcheon, Project Leader at ReachOut Academy, Dean Trust Ardwick, Manchester.
“Being able to spend the summer working at Rede Partners, was an amazing experience. Whether it was working in HR or Finance, I learned so much about the world of private equity, made great connections with fantastic people and I got to learn first-hand what it would be like to work there! I really believe that I can go onto build the career I want now I’ve been a part for a workplace for real”
Victor Adekunle, 18 years old, ReachOut Ambassador, London
“When I first my mentee, she was very reluctant to participate in the sessions. Now, I see a completely different person! Her confidence has grown and she is happy to join in! She still has some self-doubt when it comes to academic work, but that’s what I hope to help her overcome, because she is a very bright person!
Through mentoring, I’ve learnt I’m a lot more patient than I realised. There will be days where she refuses to participate and those are the days that I really see the importance of the character strengths, for both the mentees and the mentors. It also makes it easier for the mentee to understand the character strengths, when I use them myself”
Myrtle, ReachOut Club mentor at Tufnell Primary School, London
“There are more distractions than ever outside of school, and the commitment of our students to attend ReachOut sessions is testament to the value they place on the relationships they foster there, and the challenge and enjoyment they provide.
ReachOut’s focus on communication skills and character development has become an important aspect of our provision of support for these students. The opportunity to relate to a positive role- model other than their usual teachers is key to the programme’s impact, and the evidence of this has been seen in the students’ attendance, resilience and to their overall progress across all the subjects in the school.”
Thomas Janvrin, Assistant Vice Principal at the Petchey Academy London
