At the start of 2021, we recruited a team of 12 volunteers to support our guests and our work – some of them are our existing volunteers who know RESTART well and others are new to us who we were glad to be welcoming on board.
Flash forward three months to June and these volunteers are becoming our freshest batch of RESTART mentors! – they have begun and will be offering one-to-one support to guests who are looking to make steps to move away from homelessness, often through a return to the workplace and stable accommodation.
Mentoring at RESTART is a positive two-way relationship between a guest and a volunteer with the aim to build capacity and skills in the mentee that will empower them and create confidence, independence and self-reliance.
Our training sessions, which we led in partnership with Kay Lawrence (highly experienced psychotherapist and counsellor) in March 2021, taught our volunteer mentors about the barriers that rough sleepers and homeless people might face when trying to secure housing, employment or reach other personal targets.
These challenges might include someone not feeling heard or listened to, not being registered to a GP/doctor, navigating the benefits system/ universal credit, applying for council housing and so on.
“What RESTART hopes to achieve and what our mentors are here to do is to take the time to sit down and work through challenges (plus, look towards future goals and targets) with guests who feel that a little help and support would motivate, encourage and support them” says Programme Manager Olivia Pyle.
“In the coming months, we look forward to fully integrating our mentors into our organisation and seeing them support guests at the drop-in, at our new, work-ready Kickstart sessions and in other settings/homelessness charities if there are guests who need this help”.
“Thank you, from everyone at RESTART, to our excellent team of volunteers and new addition of marvellous mentors!”
Looking for support?
If you are a guest/are looking for help and would like to access support from RESTART/a mentor, then please get in touch with us for a chat: olivia@restartlives.org / 07387 727139
Want to become a mentor?
If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a mentor, then please also feel free to email or call us on: olivia@restartlives.org / 07387 727139