What is mentoring?

Mentoring is where one person helps another to make changes to their life or work.  It is a partnership between two people:  the mentor and the person who is being mentored.  Both partners have a role in making sure the relationship works and both gain from it. 

All mentoring schemes are different, depending on their purpose and how they are run, but every scheme if it is to be effective needs to have some common points. 

These useful tips have been drawn together from mentoring programmes managed by Groundwork and funded by the Big Lottery Fund, Whitbread and the Department for Communities and Local Government.  They are for anyone looking to develop their skills as a mentor or to set up a mentoring programme:

• Before you start:  The points that should be considered before deciding to start such a programme
• Getting started:  The first steps
• The benefits of mentoring:  For mentors and for volunteers
• Managing a programme:  Keeping a programme going, exit strategies and evaluation
• Getting started as a mentor:  Looking at ways to develop your work with a volunteer
• Mentoring in practice:  The experience of a volunteer who became a mentor

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