Volunteer Coach/Mentor

Organisation: University of Kent
Hours required: Variable
Age: All ages
Area: Kent & Medway
Postcode: N/A
Address: N/A

Apply at: https://behopeful.co.uk/the-looking-forward-project/information-for-mentors/
Apply by email: c.rawlinson2@bsms.ac.uk

Keywords

18+ Advocacy & Support Listening Skills Remote only Support Training Given Young People

Description

Role Purpose

The Coach will support young women in The Looking Forward Project – a National Institute for Health and Care Research funded research study. Young women in the study are aged 16 to 25 years old and currently or recently have been NEET – not in education, employment, or training.

The Coach acts as a supportive guide who helps young women work through a programme called HOPEFUL. It is a workbook of videos and practical exercises. The workbook is designed to help young women feel more positive about themselves, increase the time they spend in meaningful activities, and develop a more hopeful mindset.

Coaches are not therapists and do not provide counselling or mental health treatment.

Instead, the role of the Coach is to:

  • Help participants to make the most of the workbook materials in a practical and encouraging way
  • Talk through practical questions about the exercises
  • Support goal-setting and problem-solving around everyday challenges

Coaches receive training and guidance on what meetings to have with young women, when and what to focus on. They also have ongoing guidance on how to keep the support helpful, safe, and within clear boundaries.

Welcoming process

Anyone interested in this role will need to have a brief online interview with a member of the research team. We can talk to you about the role and discuss whether it seems right for you at this moment in time. For all those continuing on to become a Coach, we would provide training materials for you to complete in your own time. Once you’ve completed the training, you would have a “getting started” call with a member of the research team to talk about the training materials and check that you are ready to start coaching.

Responsibilities

Working with young women

  • Build trusting, respectful relationships with young women while keeping clear professional boundaries.
  • Work in a youth-centred and strengths-based way, encouraging hope while recognising real-life challenges and barriers.
  • Respect lived experience and avoid assumptions or judgement.

Supporting young women with HOPEFUL

  • Deliver the HOPEFUL programme as set out in the training and coaching manual.
  • Support young women to identify their goals and explore practical ways to work towards them.
  • Encourage young women to come to coaching sessions, even when their motivation goes up and down.
  • Respond sensitively and thoughtfully if a young woman misses sessions or becomes less engaged.

Safety and quality of coaching

  • Support the delivery of high-quality research that can inform wider use of this approach.
  • Stay within the role of coach and do not take on other roles (e.g., therapist or friend).
  • Attend group supervision every two weeks when actively coaching, and at least once a month at other times.
  • Keep any personal details or research information safe and confidential.
  • Identify and respond appropriately to any risk concerns, following supervision and research team guidance.
  • Provide a brief, accurate record of each coaching session (e.g., length, location, activities completed) to the research team using the secure online system.

What rewards come with volunteering, and how does it create meaningful change?

Training and support

This is a voluntary role. We cannot provide payment or reimbursement for any expenses, such as travel, should these be incurred. In addition to training and ongoing support (see below), we will provide a certificate of achievement for providing coaching to one or more young women and can provide a reference for this voluntary role.

1  – Two training videos and a reflective exercise – about 70 minutes

2  – Getting started call – about 30 minutes

3  – Coaching Manual – containing structured plans for each coaching session and other information and resources for you to use if you would like to

4  – Ongoing supervision with experienced youth worker/s – about 60 minutes fortnightly to monthly

5 – Research team support as needed for any questions or additional training needs

This role aims to create meaningful change by providing support to vulnerable young women to use a new hope-focused intervention that has been designed to help them to enhance their hope and work towards goals that matter to them personally. The role is within an innovative public health research trial.

Requirements

Person specification

Essential

Experience and skills

  • Ability to build rapport and trust with young women
  • Able to balance empathy with structure
  • Strong listening and communication skills
  • Personal or professional experience of supporting vulnerable young people and/or lived experience as a vulnerable young person

Knowledge and understanding

  • Understanding of challenges faced by young women, including disengagement, mental health difficulties, adversity and social exclusion
  • Ability to understand professional boundaries and safeguarding processes
  • Ability to keep accurate records regarding coaching sessions, i.e., time, duration, location, tasks completed

Personal qualities

  • Warm, calm, sensitive, and non-judgemental manner
  • Reflective and self-aware
  • Reliable and consistent
  • Comfortable working with uncertainty and fluctuating engagement

Practical

  • Able to provide coaching sessions for young women within working hours (variable 50-65 minutes per session)
  • Able to attend 1-hour supervision sessions in working hours (fortnightly when active, monthly when inactive)

Desirable

  • Living in Sussex, Kent, Medway, or East Anglia
  • Willing to meet young women for coaching in person in accessible community places, e.g., cafe, library, gallery

Contact details / How to apply

Contact: Charlotte Rawlinson (Trial Manager)
Telephone: 07350442641
Email: c.rawlinson2@bsms.ac.uk
For more information: https://behopeful.co.uk/the-looking-forward-project/information-for-mentors/
Apply at: https://behopeful.co.uk/the-looking-forward-project/information-for-mentors/
Apply by email: c.rawlinson2@bsms.ac.uk

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