Last week our first group of mentors were fully trained on Talentino! and will soon be mentoring school children in and around Peterborough; it was an in-depth, engaging and full-on training day for us all but we have all left excited to get started with ideas buzzing of the topics we will teach our group of 8 special needs students in Peterborough.
From left to right we can see James Dawson of 360 Cleaning Services, our very own Hazel Cottrell of Creative Content Company, Daniel Waters of Dan Waters Creative Photography, Julie Randall of Incrementi, Charlotte the Community Champion at Tesco Hampton, Craig Rudd who does not represent a company but has come with the support of the company he works for and Rachel Bamber of Brighter Thinking.
Our mentors are a real mix of industries and backgrounds including business owners, mentors, retail workers, engineers and photographers.
As the first mentors of Talentino! in Peterborough these 7 mentors were given the chance to choose the topics they taught, the tools they would use and how they would mentor each session – with lot of tools, equipment and lesson plans to choose from it was a tad overwhelming for the mentors but great for them to be able to feel part of the project too.
During the session our mentors gained a real understanding of the students they would be working with, the special needs they could expect to see and why their role as a volunteer would help the students so much and how.
Apart from this initial training session the mentors are giving just one hour a week for 7 weeks to their group of 8 students and of course as a Project Manager, Hazel is on hand throughout the project and Jenny at Talentino!
If you think you or a member of your team has 1 hour a week spare to help a group of special needs students gain a better understanding of the world of work then please feel free to contact Hazel directly who will be only too happy to tell you more about this fantastic project.
