Sefton CVS’s Merseyside Offender Mentoring project provides 1-1 support to newly released offenders through volunteer befriending to instigate...
Volunteer mentor for the Merseyside Offender Mentoring Project
This opportunity is ongoing, with no end date.
The project supports men who are ex-offenders in the community by engaging them with a volunteer mentor who work with them weekly on a one-to-one basis to remove triggers of offending behaviour.
To do this, the support provided is holistic and bespoke to the ex-offender and led by the men themselves. This support has not only helped turn countless lives around but has contributed to a staggering reduction in re-offending rates across Merseyside.
Mentors provide support around:
- Accommodation
- Employment, training and education
- Health and wellbeing
- Finances
- Family and relationships
- Substance misuse
- Attitudes, thinking and behaviour
Once in the community the project worker will meet with the mentee and the mentor in a public place. This is where the mentor and mentee will go through their agreed action plan to progress with their resettlement and encourage a positive lifestyle. The action plan will be tailored to whatever it is the mentee wishes to achieve. The mentee and mentor will meet on a weekly basis in public places (for example cafes, libraries or job centres) and will work on the small manageable steps required to achieve the resettlement goals. Mentors maintain regular contact with their allocated project worker to provide progress updates. They complete a report after every meeting, within a specified timeframe, to evidence the support they have given.
Mentors will have completed a compulsory three-day training package and are DBS checked. Once all the support needs of the mentee have been achieved, and the mentee feels settled and ready to maintain his independence, the match will come to an end. Mentors often report feeling a sense of achievement, knowing that they have supported an ‘at-risk’ person in achieving their goals.
- Areas of interestTeaching and Mentoring