Stage One / Stage Two
It’s time to learn! In this stage, we’ll help you get all the knowledge you need so that you can become an amazing mentor and feel confident in your abilities.
Remember, you can download your Volunteer Journey Checklist here to keep track of where you are in the process.
If there are any steps in Stage 1 that you are still working on, please make it your priority to complete these as soon as possible. You can click on the ‘Stage One’ button at the top to go back.
Please click on the steps below to find out what you need to do next.
At your Mentor Training, you will gain essential knowledge about becoming a good mentor. Click here to read more about what you can expect from your Mentor Training.
You will have received a personalised link to book onto your Mentor Training in the email that brought you to this page. Please follow the link and choose a date & time for your Mentor Training. Remember to add your Mentor Training date into your calendar so that you don’t forget!
A DBS is a police check that is essential for our volunteers to complete. All you need to do is fill in your application (you will be asked about your personal details, address history, and to upload some documents). Once you have done that, ReachOut will approve and pay for your DBS to be processed.
Click here to fill in your DBS application by following the instructions on the guide.
If you already have a DBS certificate, you can check if this is valid for volunteering with us here.
You will have received a personalised link for submitting your references in an email, so follow that link in order to do this. Guidance on the type of references needed is provided on the link itself.
Once you fill in this form, your referees will receive an email from us asking them to provide a reference for you. We are happy to accept references from referees outside of the UK as long as they complete the form in English.
The Mentor Training is a wonderful way for you to meet other mentors and to practice your mentoring skills! It will take place online and will last 2 hours. Click here to read more about what you can expect from your Mentor Training.
Please aim to fill in your DBS application & references before you come to your Mentor Training.
You will not be able to progress onto the next stage until you have completed this!
After you attend your Mentor Training, you will receive an email inviting you to the third stage of the journey – meeting the team.
Please get started with the next stage as soon as you receive the invitation from us.
DBS application
Once you have filled out an online DBS application, you will first need to book and attend a 1.1 meeting to have your 3 ID documents verified by a member of the ReachOut team before your application can be submitted for processing. It is only once you have done this that your DBS will start to be processed.
After your 1.1 meeting, it will take around 1-2 weeks before you receive your certificate in the post. It is therefore really important that you book onto a 1.1 meeting and have your 3 ID documents ready to show if you want to progress with your volunteer journey. If you attend your 1:1 meeting and 2 weeks go by and you still have not received your certificate, please get in touch to let us know!
You can view a full list of acceptable documents here.
Here are some of the most common documents that we see.
Photo ID document (the below need to be in physical form to show in the 1.1 meeting) – please use at least 1 document from this category
Acceptable | Not acceptable |
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Proof of address document (the below can be in paper or online format to show at your 1.1 meeting)
Acceptable | Not acceptable |
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If you still don’t think that you have 3 ID documents after checking the Gov. website – please get in touch with us at volunteer@reachoutuk.org .
In this case there are a few options that you could follow:
If you are still struggling, please get in touch with us or talk to us at your 1.1 meeting.
We do accept external DBS certificates, but only if they fall within certain specifications. You can check if we are able to accept your existing DBS certificate by clicking here.
Mentor Training
We will be opening up more mentor training dates on a rolling basis and as needed. It is best to try to book onto a mentor training as soon as possible as there is no guarantee that more dates will open up. Additionally, the quicker you make it through the Volunteer Journey, the more likely it is that you will gain a space the project that you’ve selected, as we allocate projects on a first come first served basis.
You can re-schedule your mentor training session through the training booking confirmation email you received, or by notifying a member of the Volunteer Team. Please do keep in mind that the sooner you attend a training and make it through the Volunteer Journey, the more likely it is that you will gain a space on the project that you’ve selected. We allocate projects on a first come first served basis.
You can have a look at our pre-training pack by following this link. It will tell you what you can expect from the training session and how you can best prepare.
References
Yes – we are happy to accept references from people who are not based in the UK as long as they provide the reference in English.
A character reference must be provided by someone who has known you for more than 2 years and who knows you really well. We can’t accept references from family members or your partner, but we are happy to accept a character reference from a friend of yours.
Examples of professional references include; manager, colleague, university tutor, teacher, volunteer manager etc.
If you’re having any trouble with this stage of your Volunteer Journey, or if you have any other questions, please contact the Volunteer Team:
Email: volunteer@reachoutuk.org
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!”
“Being at ReachOut gave me skills that I didn‘t know I had in me and put me on a trajectory that I probably never saw myself getting on.”
ReachOut Mentor
“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
