All sessions will take place online with cameras on. It is really important for you and the Mentor to see each other so unless there are exceptional circumstances, the session will not take place if cameras are off.

Mentoring is designed to help you, so if your friend is on the session then the attention becomes divided and will be less useful for you. Also, we’re not sure how parents or guardians would feel paying for someone else to be mentored!

If you cancel the session late i.e., within 24 hours of the scheduled session taking place, your parents or guardians will be charged for the session.

Counsellors and therapists will try to address a behaviour or issue resulting from your past or a particular event, or series of events. A Mentor will look at how you are today and help you look to the future with optimism, clarity and, hopefully, excitement! And unlike a tutor they will not try to help you with your school subjects….but if you are concerned about that, of course you can talk to them about that too!

The session you have with you Mentor is confidential, so no. If there is anything that a Mentor is concerned about of something you have said worries them, they may ask you if they can to talk to an independent expert to get an opinion on something. Otherwise, nobody needs to know what you are talking about.

Mentoring is proven to be one of the least intrusive ways of helping people, both young and old. Mentors don’t dig into your past or analyse your behaviour, mentoring is about talking, and sharing your dreams, concerns, worries and questions with someone who has been through similar experiences to you and who has come out the other side. Our Mentors are a bit like a big brother or sister, they speak your language and understand the challenges that you are facing. Often just talking through your feelings and week will make you feel much better and help you to see clearer.

A session will last a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of one hour. The scheduling system will pre-book the length of session that you would like. Obviously, if the session is going really well and you want to extend it and the Mentor has time, this can obviously be arranged then and there.

Ultimately, we don’t support you meeting your Mentor, but obviously if that was something that would help you, we would agree, but only with you parents’ or guardians full consent. And it may be a condition that they were present at the meeting.

The best way of helping to choose your Mentor is by being as open and honest with us during our initial chat. The more information we have from you and the clearer the sort of person you think you would like to have as a Mentor, the better the choice will be!

In most instances a parent or guardian will pay for the Mentoring. We will keep them updated on how many sessions you have and if you want more you must discuss this with them.

Your first couple of mentoring sessions will be an opportunity for you and the Mentor to get to know each other. Trust and rapport will build with the Mentor and as time passes, you will feel more and more comfortable with them, conversations will be more free flowing over time, and you will start to feel you can get advice on anything! Clouds will clear and you will start to focus on the future with increased optimism.

In short, anything!! Your Mentor is like an older best friend or sibling. They clearly remember all the difficulties and challenges that you are going through as though they were yesterday, but now they are thriving so will be able to guide you on how they got through it all! Please remember that all conversations are confidential so you really can talk about anything. However, if there is something that you say that worries a Mentor or they don’t know the answer to, they may ask a fully qualified expert for an opinion. We hope that’s ok?

A. As mentoring is most effective over a longer period of time, the sessions are paid for on a monthly subscription basis. Although a minimum of 30 minutes per week may be enough, there is the opportunity to increase this. The monthly payments will be taken by Direct Debit payable in advance of any sessions taken. Continuity and regularity is key with mentoring and owing to the flexibility that our online model offers sessions are encouraged to take place weekly and from anywhere in the world. Your child, and you, will be reminded to engage with their mentor and subscriptions can be paused or cancelled with 2 week notice. Any unused minutes do not unfortunately roll over unless in exceptional circumstances. Fear not, we will remind you by email if you are not using sessions!

A. Research proves that mentoring is greatly useful in young adult lives. Studies have shown it helps individuals improve both social and academic prospects. Mentoring allows meaningful relationships to be formed, having a real impression on the mentee. It allows them to develop leadership, management, communication, and creative skills. Mentoring for young adults also further empowers them to give back to their community. o Students with a mentor are 52% less likely to skip a day of school. (Source) o 37% of students with a mentor are less likely to skip a class. (Source) o 55% of young adults who have a mentor but face an opportunity gap are more likely to get a higher education than peers who did not possess a mentor. (Source) o 78% of young adults with a mentor are more likely to volunteer regularly. (Source) o 90% of young adults with a mentor are interested in becoming one in the future. (Source) o 59% of teens with a mentor get better grades than their peers. (Source) o 27% of young adults with a mentor are less likely to use alcohol. (Source)

We recommend that each session is 30 to 45 minutes, however if a longer or additional session is required, then this can easily be arranged. We would not advise more that an hour. More regular short sessions would be better than infrequent longer sessions.

One of the significant differences between mentoring and counselling is the relationship that is established. A mentoring relationship is informal, and the duration is typically longer term. A counselling relationship is formal, sessions are typically in a counsellor’s office, and the duration is usually not as long term. Another difference is the value of the advice provided. A mentor’s advice is well received on a personal and holistic level because of personal familiarity and experience. A counsellor’s input is respected due to training and how their expertise has helped others.

Not really, however evidence suggests that mentoring will have an impact from the start. The sooner they start, the more likely a person is to be open about communicating, sharing their concerns and or identifying a positive direction and purpose to their lives.

Our mentors are thoroughly vetted young people who are typically in their early 20s. All have DBS checks, safeguard training and all are really keen to help young people manage the challenges they might be facing. The majority will have had “difficulties” or “frustrations” as they have been going through their teens and many will be in year two or three of university.

Until we have spoken to you and your child, it is difficult to gauge and due to the nature of what may develop. Ultimately it is down to you and your child to continue as long as your child is still benefitting from the sessions and support.

Please note our mentors will not get paid if a session is cancelled. So as a matter of courtesy to the Mentor, a minimum of 24 hours’ notice is required should you or your child wish to cancel a mentoring session. Obviously there maybe exceptional circumstances, but for anything less than 24 hours, the session would be chargeable.

We will work very hard at the outset to ensure that we select the best Mentor for your child in line with their personality, needs and objectives. However, if the match does not work, we will find a replacement at no extra cost. Having the right fit is very important and will have a massive impact on the effectiveness of the mentoring.

As with counselling and therapy, the intention of the mentoring session is to provide a “safe” and confidential space for the Mentee to air whatever they choose to raise. Therefore, unless there is something that the Mentor is concerned about, the content of sessions will be kept between the Mentee and the Mentor.

As mentioned in the previous answer, we will discuss with you the reasons why your child would benefit from having a mentor. This conversation is designed to help us find the best mentor for your child in line with their personality and needs, and to a degree yours. All throughout this process you will have a say, however you will not directly choose the mentor.

Please refer to our comprehensive safeguarding policy documents. If you feel anything has not been covered off, please contact us.

Due to our safeguarding policies, all mentoring will take place online. If you should hear from your child of any proposed face to face meetings, please advise us immediately.

As with many types of tutoring the process will be similar. We will discuss with you as the parent/guardian, why you think your child would like to have a mentor and how we might be able to help. We would also wish to include your child in the discussion and hear what they have to say. When we have sufficient information, we will find a mentor who’s background, experiences and personality is best aligned to your child.

As with tutoring, mentoring is much more effective if a relationship is allowed to develop. We therefore would encourage both parties to work together for as long as is required.

Our directory of useful contacts and resources should help you with any challenges or questions you may have. We will also be running webinars and confidential Q&A sessions with experts. We will keep you posted as these elements of our service expand.

We are really pleased that you have asked this question. We will ask both your mentees and their parents/guardians how they think that you’re doing, and we will feedback to you anything that we believe will help you. Our rating system will give you instant feedback on the sessions and for those Mentors that are doing really well and that have been with us for a while, we will seek to reward you with an increased hourly rate, gift or other tokens of appreciation.

All the information that we need will be detailed in application process. In short; contact information, evidence of your address, a DBS check, formal ID, your bank details (so we can pay you) and two references from people other than your friends (college or university tutors as well as employers are great sources of references). There will also be an online interview with one of the Freemind team where we can learn about you as well as giving you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.

The best mentoring comes from a positive and strong relationship between Mentor and Mentee. If you don’t get on or enjoy your session with a Mentee, there is a greatly diminished value in carrying on. Therefore, we suggest you let us know right away and we will look to place you with another Mentee. However, remember some relationships take a little time to form.

If a Mentee is rude, please advise them that their behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. If they persist or it is too much, feel free to end the session, but please log the experience and report it to us.

Please note you will not get paid if a session is cancelled. So as a matter of courtesy to you as a Mentor, we have asked Mentees and Parents/Guardians to give a minimum of 24 hours’ notice should they to cancel a mentoring session. Obviously there maybe exceptional circumstances, but for anything less than 24 hours, the session would be chargeable, and you will be paid.

As part of our Safeguarding policy, you must alert us immediately if you hear or see something of concern in your mentoring session. We will then deal with the issue. You must not in any circumstances try to address the situation yourself. Listen, do not make any promises, and immediately seek help.

Sessions last between 30 and 45 minutes and we encourage you, all things being well, to stick with your mentee for as long as you both are able. The benefits of mentoring are proportionate to the length of the mentor/mentee relationship.

We are great believers in community and rewarding those who excel or do something special. Through our business partnerships we will be rewarding the Mentors who are meeting those criteria with additional rewards such as tickets to events, meals, flights, coffees etc. New rewards are handed out each month so look out for your name and if you have something you are proud of do tell us and you never know………?! We also reward Mentors who introduce us to great new Mentors and also new clients, so the more you help us to grow the more we’ll reward you!

If your Mentee refuses to engage with you, despite your best interests, feel free to end the session, let us know and we will contact the parent and mentee.

Absolutely! As our ethos and business is all about helping people, we will be delighted to write an honest reference for you. The better you perform for your Mentee and us, the better your reference will be!

No formal training is required prior to you joining us; however we will require you to attend our own online training which should last about three hours before you will be permitted to mentor our Mentees. There will also be other opportunities to up-skill with frequent workshops run by one of our professional partners.

To a point, it’s up to you and your diary. However, to be effective and reliable (which is very important), we would probably not recommend you mentoring more than six hours of mentoring per week. So, depending on how long each session is, the maximum would be 12 different Mentees.

Yes, you get paid! Your rates of pay will be confirmed during our initial chat with you. You will be paid an hourly rate for every completed session. We will pay you at the end of every month for the total number of hours you have completed (since your previous payment), via BACS. Please note that you will only be paid for the sessions which you have completed and filed the reports for!

Freemind is unable to pay for your DBS or training. As with most jobs, if you wish to take up some form of work, it is your responsibility to have the necessary requirements and skills. However, in certain situations we will help you pay for the DBS and then deduct the cost from your first round of earnings.

Yes, we love and value or mentors and if you work hard, are reliable, committed to your work and you do a great job, then you deserve to be rewarded. We will discuss how our processes work during our initial chat.

As part of your application we will ask you to tell us a little bit about yourself. We do the same when we talk to the young people wishing to be mentored. When we have that information, we will be best placed to match you to their needs.

To avoid any complications, all meetings are to be conducted online. Both the Mentee and their parents or guardians are told that there will be no face-to-face contact between Mentors and Mentees. If a Mentee becomes insistent about meeting, you must tell us, and we will discuss with the parents or guardian.

There is no shame in not knowing the answer to something! Therefore, if you do not know the answer to a question; admit that you don’t know the answer but will revert with an answer when you can. Freemind is here to support you so you can be the best mentor to your mentee – if you need help, ask!

We believe that to be a good Mentor, you will need to be caring, empathetic, reliable, discreet, trustworthy, aware, positive and really enthusiastic about helping people. You will potentially be having a major impact on someone’s life and as you have now been through your teen years, perhaps have think what sort of a person you might have liked to have helped you and maybe you will find further answers to the question!