Kilkenny youth organisation seeks mentoring volunteers

Ossory Youth in Kilkenny are currently seeking volunteers to mentor young people.
It has been shown that the presence of one good adult in a young person’s life has a positive influence on their mental health. Be it a parent, mentor, teacher, football coach or school bus driver, we all have a role in supporting the young people around us.
As part of the Mentoring Programme that is run in Ossory Youth we have seen first-hand the impact the ‘One Good Adult’ can have on a young person’s life.
When a young person is struggling to cope with an issue, what can we do to help? That was the question Ossory Youth asked in 2012 when we were finding that more and more young people were looking for an individual and supportive space to work things out. As an organisation they saw the need to provide another individual support that is different to the traditional counselling route for young people. Mentoring as an approach has been widely used in youth organisations across the globe to give young people a chance to develop a relationship with an adult, separate from parents and teachers, who is simply just there to listen and offer friendly and supportive advice.
Since setting up the mentoring programme it has provided much needed support and guidance to over 30 young people on a one to one basis. This support was only possible by the dedication and commitment of adult volunteers throughout the years, who gave up an hour a week to provide a friendly listening ear to a young person trying to keep up with modern adolescent life.
A youth worker recently got feedback from some of the mentors and young people to ask them their view on how it works for them. Bobby and Maurice were in the bowling alley. Both are excellent bowlers and killing it with strikes! They generally meet here every Friday and chat. Bobby said: “I look forward to it every Friday, gives me a warm feeling and I really enjoy it. It’s fun and it’s great to have the chats.”
Maurice his mentor said: “It’s a great way to end the week, we both love bowling and it’s a lot of fun, catching up and chatting’.
Mairian who is also a mentor said: “I really looking forward to meeting each week, we have a great laugh and drink lots of hot chocolate and do things in town .”
Mrs Kealy a mum of a young person being mentored said: “The mentoring programme is an invaluable resource for teenagers who just struggle at being a teenager today which isn’t easy. And a great support network for parents.”
Anecdotal evidence tells us much more and at Ossory Youth they have witnessed young people grow in confidence and self-belief over the years thanks to having someone to help them realise they always had the ability, it just needed to come to the surface. Many young people have went on to join groups in Ossory or elsewhere when the mentoring has finished.
Referrals come in on a regular basis to the youth organisation. It is clear that the Mentoring Programme is responding to a real and evident need and Ossory Youth are committed to growing this part of the service more. The organisation is looking to increase the panel of mentors. According to Eilis Walklett, Coordinator of the programme, “We are getting to the stage where we have a waiting list of young people seeking one to one support and we aren’t able to provide it straight away. We would like to be able to offer the mentoring at the time when it’s needed. That’s why we are making a fresh appeal to people in Kilkenny to try out volunteering as mentors for young people.
“ We are inviting adults of all ages to contact us if they think they might like to try volunteering. We will talk it through with them without any commitment.” Full training and support is provided on a ongoing basis to all mentors. Anyone interested in finding out more,can drop into Ossory Youth on New Street or contact Eilis Walklett on (056) 7761200 / (087) 9442112/ ewalklett@ossoryouth.com