We are looking for adult volunteer mentors to be matched with children in Christchurch. As a mentor, you will be professionally matched to a child aged between 6 and 12 years old. You will then spend a minimum of 1 hour, once a week for a minimum of 1 year together, doing activities that you both enjoy.
The children you are matched with are not high needs children, but are the ones who just need that bit of extra support and attention due to circumstances beyond their control. They are often the children that can just fly under the radar due to their situation. Activities the mentor and mentee can do include walking the dog, going for a hot chocolate, shooting some basketball hoops, baking, arts and crafts... it's all about doing things the mentor and mentee both enjoy and just spending time together, one-on-one.
Throughout the match, both mentor, mentee and child's caregiver will be supported via our Mentor Coordinators, and who will be available for contact and support at any time.
There are two mentoring options: Community Based mentoring is done in the evenings and/or at weekends, and is done out in the community. School Based mentoring is done at the child's school, at a set time each week (during school hours) and takes place in the staff room, playground, spare class-room or other areas within the school permitted for the match to use. Big Brothers Big Sisters provides activities (like board games, craft materials etc for the match to use in the School Based setting.
The process of becoming a mentor includes a face to face info session at our Woolston based office, followed by an application form, police check (which Big Brothers Big Sisters will organise), interview and training session. On average it can take around 8 weeks to complete the process.
Our mentors are awesome every day adults who build friendships with their young people. Having a reliable, solid, adult friend and role model builds resilience, confidence and self esteem, helps young people to see their potential and ensures they have somone beside them as they navigate through life.
If YOU have time once a week to share your interests and become a friend to one of these young people, we'd love to hear from you!
Unable to volunteer your time, we undertsand instead, why not considder a donation to support more young people in need to benefit from our program.
For more info about our mentor programme check out the attached video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvRsXVPYljk or visit our website at https://www.bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz/christchurch
Have the ability to relate to children and adults and be adaptable to change; Have mental and emotional competence; Be reliable and of good character, dependable, punctual, honest, fun-loving and committed to open communication.
One hour a week for a minimum of a year. Please talk with us for more information about the time commitments for this role
Getting started:
The first step is to express your interest by filling out the form below.
We will then put you in touch directly with the organisation for more information on the role and how to proceed.
Ref: 16
Mentoring
Applicants for this role are required to undergo Police vetting.
You can find out more about this process on the Police website:
http://www.police.govt.nz/advice/businesses-and-organisations/vetting/information-about-vetting
Working with children