Re-establish hopeful futures for young refugees and asylum seekers through education - Become a volunteer mentor at Refugee Education UK in 2026
Educational mentors meet with their mentees once a week, in a public place, to help them with an agreed aspect of their education for a minimum of six months. This is typically in the form of English and maths support but mentoring can take different forms, from structured sessions around English reading to conversational goals set by the mentee. We provide support in providing you with resources and training to feel equipped to support your mentee.
Mentors who apply to work with us go through an application process involving an interview, external references and a DBS check before they attend our mandatory training which covers child protection, boundaries, the asylum process, and how to structure mentoring sessions.
We ask the mentor to start their mentoring session by 5:30 pm at the latest on a regular weekday and we ask both mentors and mentees to commit for at least 6 months.
Mentors get the chance to be positive influences and role models in the lives of young people arriving in the UK with limited support networks.
Here is a testimonial from a current mentor and on the things he has enjoyed from volunteering:
There are more than I could list here, but one of the main ones for me is when your mentee makes a breakthrough on something that was giving them difficulty, especially after you've been working on it together for a while. I've also really enjoyed seeing my mentees flourishing and doing well in their lives, like when they get through their exams or when you hear about the activities they are enjoying outside of education. It's a real privilege to share part of someone's life through the mentoring role. - Duncan L. 2023
With our quarterly mentor and mentee socials, we hope to build community across our members throughout London.
All new educational mentors will attend our New Mentor Training to get you ready for your matches.
We also have quarterly mentor development trainings that provides opportunities for continued learning and connection among the mentoring hub. Past trainings have included topics on ESOL, boundaries, revision strategies and more.
- Experience of working with young people and the related challenges (ie: flexibility and patience sometimes required for youth work).
- Capacity to travel to a location convenient for the young person and an ability to meet the young person by 5:30 pm at the latest.
- Experience of working with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.
- Ability to work on own initiative and a willingness to take on relevant preparation.
- Ability to think creatively and problem-solve.
- Excellent communication/interpersonal skills.
- Good organisational skills.
- Ability to cope with emotionally-demanding and stressful situations.
- Motivated by promoting the wellbeing of children and young people.
- Commitment to and ability to work in accordance with REUK’s Child Protection policies and Christian Ethos: https://www.reuk.org/our-story
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