Hannah, our Mentoring Worker tells us how YG’s mentors got together to celebrate their successes.

9 June 2016

Our Big Celebration for Volunteers’ Week 2016 successes

YG really appreciates the work our volunteer mentors do and planned an event as part of National Volunteer’s Week to highlight the amazing contribution mentors have made over the past year and what better way to say ‘thank you’ than with games and cake.

YG mentors gathered at our head office – Greyfriars House, to celebrate and share stories of their experiences so far. Mentors come from all different walks of life and at the event we had mechanical engineers, life coaches, trustees and even a member of the police service. Our guest list was packed to the brim, with staff from EDF Energy, Renishaw and Gloucestershire College all ready for an amazing event.

After welcoming our mentors with goody bags and refreshments we jumped straight into a giant game of Pictionary. Not only was this a fun game to play with a large group it also helped illustrate how difficult it can be for young people to get across what they mean. To use an example from the night; what some people perceive as a canoe others think is a bowl of weetabix!

Before the next activity a slice of YG cake was in order while the mentors discussed some of their experiences. One mentor called Hannah spoke about how her ‘has changed my life’. This was great to hear and Hannah will be sharing her story in another news post soon.

Next up was a quiz with a twist – all based on sex education! Yes, it was a little awkward but so are some conversations with young people. Mentors need to be able to have open and honest chats with young people about their personal circumstances and future aspirations, so it was time to put their skills to the test. There was a lot of fun and laughter along the way and we all learnt something new.

It was a fantastic, eye opening and humbling evening. Once again I would like to congratulate all of our mentors on a job well done and say a massive thank you from everyone at Young Gloucestershire.