Women's Mentoring

My name is Victoria, I am 38 years old and I receive support from the Shining On service.

When I was younger there were problems within my family which led to me being looked after within the care system from the age of two years old. When I left care at 17, I became independent and started having my own family.

​Who would have thought a job could be so challenging and yet so rewarding at the same time?

I completed the Venture Trust Mentor Training with its partner, Move On Scotland in August 2016, and gained my Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) membership.

A typical day sees me shadowing Sharon, the Venture Trust Outreach Co-ordinator. I rise early to catch the train to Alloa from Camelon where, together, we meet Rachael* to discuss the plan set in place for her five-day Next Steps wilderness journey.

Jane is just 21 years old. She was referred to Venture Trust in April 2016 through the Reconnect Women’s Group that runs through the Criminal Justice Team in the Borders. Jane had been long term unemployed, struggling with alcohol and substance abuse, and negative relationships which led her astray, and contributed to her involvement with the criminal justice system. At the time of being referred to Venture Trust, Jane had got to a stage where she wanted to make positive changes in her life; she was engaging with an employability programme and also working part time.

My day starts at 6am – with a long drive from Aberdeen to Inverness in order to start my working day.

My first client “J” and I recently applied for a small grant from a charity aimed towards developing interests of unemployed people. Today we are going to a second-hand camera shop to see if it’s reasonable for her to be able to get a camera and a bike with the money, this looks quite positive.

Today starts as usual with emails and deskwork (the women I work with don’t generally reply to calls or manage to meet before 10am).

My first session is a walk with "A", former rough sleeper and chronic alcoholic, who likes being outside and talks more freely on the go. She values the peace and ‘headspace’ away from alcohol-related ties. Today we talk about some extensive upcoming dentistry she’s dreading - I will accompany her.

An independent evaluation of the Scottish Government's Reducing Reoffending Change Fund (RRCF) has concluded that "mentoring is an effective approach which helps mentees to learn and implement constructive, non-criminal ways of addressing problems in their lives and to reduce risk factors associated with offending behaviour, and that there is a strong case for the continuation and expansion of mentoring services".