Online Mentor

Ongoing opportunity

Click Here to Volunteer!

What is the role?

Who are they?

What can I gain?

Where?

When can I volunteer?

Any requirements?

ROLE DESCRIPTION

As a Brightside mentor, you’ll be matched with a handful of young people via our text based mentoring app/website. You’ll help them explore their options in higher education, sharing your experience and supporting them to research further. It will build their awareness of their strengths and belief that they can successfully pursue their ambitions. Ultimately, you’ll focus on supporting them to make confident, informed decisions about their futures. 

Our volunteering is flexible and can be done anywhere there is an internet connection. We ask you reply to messages from your mentees promptly to keep the conversation flowing but that doesn’t need to be right away. In total it will take you about 1.5hrs a week to mentor with us. You will commit to specific projects which last 8-12 weeks and start throughout the academic year- you can do one project or become a regular volunteer. 

The vast majority of our mentees tell us that mentoring helped with their decision making and made them feel more optimistic about the future. For example, Aliza told us: 

“I found it embarrassing to ask to talk to a teacher all the time but it was so easy to talk to my mentor. She could use her experience and her hindsight to help me with my decision making. Mentoring is a once in a lifetime opportunity so I wanted to be as honest as I could. I got some really good advice from it. 

 
My mentor really got me thinking critically. I found it really hard to answer an interview question about my weaknesses and my mentor helped me to identify that I wasn’t great at asking for help. I think I can do everything for myself and a big part of my personality is being independent, but she taught me it’s ok to ask for help and I think that’s really changed me.”

ABOUT THIS ORGANISATION

Brightside's vision is?a society where everyone has equal access to opportunities, regardless of their background.?In the UK, access to opportunities is often determines more by where you grow up or what your parents do than your strengths and aspirations. Brightside is working to change that by connecting young people with inspiring mentors to help them make confident and informed decisions about their future.?We are pioneers in digital mentoring with nearly twenty years’ experience of using technology to have a positive impact on young people. 

You can find out more about us on our website, including hearing from our mentees and mentors. 

WHAT COULD YOU GAIN?

We provide you with training on mentoring and resources to help you during the project. Through this and the experience of mentoring you’ll be able to build transferable skills in coaching, management and leadership. Many of our mentors report gaining confidence in communicating with teenagers as well as strengthening their ability to discuss complex issues in accessible language more generally. You can list your volunteering with us on your CV and we are happy to provide a factual reference confirming this once you have completed at least one project. 

WHERE?

Online

WHEN CAN I VOLUNTEER?

Ongoing

SKILLS/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

We need mentors to have good written English and access to a device with internet connection. But no other specific skills or experience are required. We provide full training on mentoring and using our platform so it matters most to us that you are enthusiastic. We’re especially keen to hear from people who faced barriers to going to uni and/or are the first in their family to go to uni. 

REQUIREMENTS FOR STARTING THE ROLE

We ask potential volunteers to complete a short form telling us a bit more about themselves. We provide a 20min introduction video which helps you learn more about us and then if you decide to proceed you attend a 1.5hr training session on zoom. We require a criminal record check but will arrange this for you if you don’t already have a suitable check. 

Click Here to Volunteer!