As I write up this blog page, I have just signed on another mentor from that group, making the total from that meeting 7!! Quite awesome. I now have 13 mentors for the training, which meets our target of between 10 and 15 mentors for each program. One mentor I have already trained will be joining this program when we are ready to begin the mentoring journey and I hope one or two other current mentors might participate as well.
Why is this important? Well, thanks to the wonderful lady who works at the Neighborhood centre, I have been able to achieve major inroads into a section of the population that would make GR8 mentors! 47% of that population are evidently retired or semi-retired. And there are possibilities of the Neighborhood Centre being involved in other programs we run as well.
Yet of even more importance is the networking with other organisations and people globally. I have been advised to create something on Face Book and some of the other sites, but I don’t have that sort of time. Instead I affiliate to the Mentor Exchange Listserv (see my links page on my website http://www.yess.co.nz/) and through the sharing of information I have gained some excellent resources. Thanks, Mike and your team!! 🙂 What I am doing is putting into practice what all the research is saying ie, different presentations for different groups. So for this Neighborhood meeting, I stressed that we wanted their expertise, that young people really value being with them and learning from them, that the group is always meeting as a group at the school, so there is a great opportunity to bond, build community etc. and lots more.
I am not that good at chasing up people about anything, but I am glad that I contacted this person recommended to me by the Principal of the school where we are running the mentoring program. Perseverance pays off.
