Volunteer Spotlight

“Before volunteering with 1625ip, I felt like I just went from work to home and I wanted to do something rewarding in my free time that would also help me to feel more connected the community. A friend talked about the volunteering they were doing which sounded really meaningful, so I applied to different charities that supported people. As a paediatrician, 1625ip felt like a charity I could work with. At hospital, a lot of the issues being presented can just be the ‘tip of the iceberg’. I also didn’t know about the help or charities that are around to support people in need.”

How did 1625ip support you as a volunteer? What teams or projects did you engage with? What difference and impact did it have on you? In what ways do you feel more confident?

“I had great support, training and introductory sessions to meet other mentors. Hearing other people share their mentoring experiences in Reflective Practice was helpful and meaningful. My mentoring experience has been phenomenal. Mentoring someone who is from a different background, with different needs and experiences to me has been an eye-opening experience for me on every level. I’ve experienced someone else’s personal struggles and have been on their side through them. I feel like I can empathise a lot more with issues I didn’t really understand before.”

“I have found mentoring requires a unique set of skills – listening to someone, boosting, and validating someone, building rapport but in the back of your head keeping them safe. Finding that rhythm was not intuitive for me at the start, but something I was able to develop and is also a transferrable set of skills for the mentoring I do at work.”

What are your plans for the future?

“I have a busy next 6 months but would love to return to mentoring with 1625ip because I feel I have learnt things I would never get from the ‘echo chamber’. I have always been equal, but I am more aware and inclusive now.”

Sharing someone else’s troubles and trying to help, can make you reflect more on your own past as well as how things are going now, whether that’s coping well or struggling with things, and how you have learnt to find support. It’s taught me more about myself than I was expecting.

Volunteer Vacancies

Community Mentoring (South Glos and Bristol)

Mentoring can transform lives, both for the Mentor and the Mentee. We are welcoming applications from individuals interested in volunteering as a Community Mentor in South Gloucestershire and Bristol. Focusing on encouraging young people to develop confidence, self-esteem and improved interpersonal skills, and supporting mentees to get to know their community and try new things.

If you can spare an hour or two a week and:

• are empathetic, patient and reliable
• have good listening skills
• have enthusiasm to talk about your own experiences and share knowledge appropriately

we’d love to hear from you!

For South Glos email max.harris@1625ip.co.uk  for Bristol email puegee.lam@1625ip.co.uk  and they will contact you for an informal chat.

Peer Supporters

We are currently inviting young people to join us as 1625ip peer supporters.  Peer supporters are volunteers aged 16-28 who have similar lived experiences as the young people we work with.

Peer support could include:

• Supporting a peer or peers in a group setting, alongside 1625ip staff, taking part in sessions like football, blog writing, music, healthy relationship groups etc.
• Co-presenting information (peer education) or training others internally or externally, with a member of staff
• Contacting young people to promote engagement

It’s a great opportunity for anyone looking to get into youth work, support work, training, or social care and education.  Equally it may appeal to someone who wants to give back having benefitted from support they’ve received.  Please email volunteering@1625ip.co.uk and one of the volunteer coordinators will get back to you.