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► FUSE Mentoring

         Fuse Mentoring


Fuse mentoring works with 13-16 year olds living in care in Leicestershire. Mentors are students and staff at DMU and they meet up with their mentees once a week for 2-3 hours over a minimum of 6 months.

Applications currently open! Click here for an application form 

“I like having [my mentor] around he’s helpful to ask questions to” 15 year old boy 

What’s it for?

The mentoring is in place to give the young people on the project time with someone outside of the care system who is there just for them. Overall the aim of the mentoring is to help the mentees to realise their educational potential (change the ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can!’). This can be done in many different ways and a lot of the mentor’s role is listening and increasing the confidence of their mentee. 

“Mentoring is making a difference...I can share what’s on the inside” 16 year old boy 

What kind of things do mentors do with their mentee?

This depends on the mentee and what their interests are – below is a list of example activities mentors have done so far:

·        Go to the cinema
·        Go out for food
·        Play sports
·        Play computer games
·        Cooking
·        Go to the theatre and local attractions
·        Water walking
·        Do homework together
·        Read a book together
·        Learn how to take the bus/train independently
·        Make a dress
·        Go shopping

There are many other activities mentors and mentees have done together! 

“I’ve been able to try loads of new things I wouldn’t have got to do” 14 year old girl 

What do the mentees get from it?

The main benefit for most mentees is having someone to talk to who is outside of the care system and to be able to talk about whatever they want (if they want to). Many of the mentees also increase their confidence in themselves and know more about what they want to do in the future. Mentees can also benefit greatly from having some time out from their usual routine and to have some fun with someone different.  

“Mentoring is making a difference for me” 15 year old boy 

“I like being able to offload to [my mentor]...[she’s] a good listener” 14 year old girl 

What do the mentors get from it?

·       Great experience and get to know an amazing mentee
·        Knowledge about the care system
·       Training with Leicestershire County Council and DSU
·        Skills to build up your CV
·        A chance to learn more about themselves
·        Some mentors have changed their career path as a result of volunteering
·        Time to have some fun and find out more about Leicester! 

“Now I can take the bus on my own so I’m more independent from my carers” 15 year old girl 

How do I get involved?

Contact the Mentoring Coordinator to find out more on rcameron@dmu.ac.uk or call 0116 2576304. You can download the application form and role description below:

FUSE Mentoring Application (Word Doc)
FUSE Mentoring Role Description (Word Doc)

All mentors are required to attend full training, have an enhanced CRB check and also attend an interview. Mentors are matched based on their suitability with the young people waiting to be matched not on the basis of completing training i.e. some mentors will wait in a pool until their best fit mentee comes up.  

“My mentor is sound” 14 year old girl 

There are loads of examples of mentors who have enjoyed their mentoring experience just as much as the young people on the project. These are just a handful of comments: 

“Doing the mentoring has changed my planned career path. I now want to work with young people and maybe consider teaching. I have learned a lot from my mentee.” (3rd year student). 

“Mentoring has improved my communication skills. This will be really useful for when I start working in the future”. (2nd year student). 

“I thought mentoring was going to be easy but it wasn’t. I learned a lot about my own skills and where I needed to develop...meeting this young person has given me a wake up call to other experiences of life”. (Staff volunteer) 

“I had a lot of fun with my mentee...she opened my eyes to the world of being in care. Her strength was inspiring to me and I hope she enjoyed doing new things” (3rd year student) 

“My time management has improved from doing this volunteering...I realise how important it is to be on time for my mentee...it can be really upsetting and damaging to our mentoring if I’m late or if I’m not there” (3rd year student) 

YOU could be the one making a huge difference to the life of a young person in care for just a few hours of your time a week – get in touch now to get involved!