Mentoring team celebrates its volunteers with ‘Mentor Meet Up’ at Victoria Stakes

Hope in Haringey brings together mentors in their first-ever celebration of volunteers at Victoria Stakes in a social and networking evening.

By Omar Alleyne-Lawler, Communications Manager

Hope in Haringey’s mentor programme took a brief pause in November, taking time to recognise the efforts of its volunteer mentors with a social gathering and networking opportunity at Victoria Stakes in Muswell Hill.

For the mentoring team, the ‘Mentor Meet Up’ is the first event of its kind since HiH’s Mentoring team was restructured in 2018. Having previously focused on the recruitment, training and pairing of mentoring pairs, little focus was given to the social aspect of mentoring.

Now having surpassed 100 volunteers on the HiH roster, the Mentor Meet Up responded to calls for mentors to have a space where they can learn from one another and network.

Led by Mentoring Manager, Hannah Whitehead and supported by Chloe Hedman, the purpose of the Mentor Meet Up was threefold. Firstly, it was to celebrate the efforts and achievements of HiH’s mentors who have worked with the charity for years. Secondly, it created for mentors to connect and network, serving the third purpose; for mentors to share their stories.

With a mentor pool spanning generations, fields of work and depth of experience, the Mentor Meet Up became a vital learning opportunity, especially for HiH’s younger and newer mentors.

Reflecting on the success of the event, Mentoring Manager Hannah Whitehead looks forward to the next ‘Mentor Meet Up’ in the summer, fitting a six-month plan to develop mentors through the mentoring programme as well as inter-personally.