Can you commit a few hours per week to mentor a young man who has recently left prison and support them to gain meaningful education, training and employment (ETE) opportunities?
Trailblazers has been providing mentoring services to people in prison since 1998 with ultimate aim to reduce re-offending. We provide support to men between the age of 18 - 35 in custody who have 6 months left of their prison sentence, and then 'through the gate' into their own community for up to 12 months. The Education, Training & Employment (ETE) team supports our mentees in custody to break down barriers to employability. Post-release, this continues by supporting mentees to gain meaningful and career changing roles in sector specific industries such as Construction, Engineering, Catering & Hospitality or the Self-Employment route.
The ETE team are looking to build a team of volunteers to work with mentees in the community and to shape the existing ETE service in the Thames Valley area. We are looking for volunteer mentors who can commit for up to 12 months and give a few hours a week to support men to change their life by being inspirational role models, helping with goal setting and supporting their mentee to access ETE opportunities and ultimately gain meaningful employment. Mentoring sessions will be 1:1, take place weekly and can be done remotely by telephone or online. These sessions will last approximately one hour, but some time should also be given to liaising with Trailblazers staff and researching relevant opportunities.
We are currently recruiting for Trailblazers' ETE project at HMP Bullingdon. Induction training is provided, out of pocket expenses covered, a mobile phone is provided to protect your own identity, a Trailblazers T-shirt and lanyard, DBS costs are covered, as well as regular reflective practice sessions to support you within your role.
We are actively looking for people to join our mentoring community with lived experience of the criminal justice system, under represented groups from BAME community, creative arts, business skills, wellbeing - whatever your skills and background we are open to hear from you to support our diverse group of men.
Our mission is to reduce re-offending with men and inspire new futures. Your support will help a young man to be able to reconnect with his own community, friends/loved ones, go into education, training and employment, and give a person a sense of hope for the future. As a charity we are reliant on volunteers with your help we can continue to support people in prison to make and change to their lives, their family and wider society. We welcome all skill sets within Trailblazers as we work with a diverse group of men, all we ask if you have a genuine passion for social change and that you can commit to at least 1 young man for a maximum of 12 months so they have a consistent person in their life - something that some of our mentees have never had. The national average re-offending rate for a person leaving prison without a Trailblazers mentor is up to 55%, those that have a Trailblazers mentor is lowered to 9%. Gaining meaningful employment has a significant impact on reducing reoffending rates and giving an individual a chance for a bright future of opportunities.
Applications are made via Trailblazers website. Once the application has been submitted you will be advised of interview dates and the recruitment process.
