MCR Pathways, the award-winning charity that provides life-changing support for care-experienced and other young people who would benefit from help, has worked with welltech specialist Frog Systems to launch an online platform to support its volunteer mentor community.
Called Mentor Voice, the digital platform uses the power of the lived experience to help new mentors understand how to build positive relationships with the young people they work with and learn from the experiences of those who are already volunteering.
There are currently over 4,000 young people being supported by MCR Pathways. Each young person is matched with a volunteer mentor who spends an hour a week with them in school to help them improve their confidence so they can build a more positive future. The charity, which launched in a single Glasgow school in 2007, now works with all 30 Glasgow secondary schools and in partnership with local authorities throughout Scotland. It has recently expanded into England.
Fay Gingell, CEO of MCR Pathways, said: “Our fantastic mentors come from all backgrounds and bring a huge variety of experiences and skills, and supporting them to continually develop is vital. The new Mentor Voice platform provides crucial peer-to-peer advice and other helpful resources for volunteers, whether they’re a veteran looking for advice on a new challenge, or a newly matched mentor getting to grips with the issues our young people face.”
Phil Worms, CEO of Frog Systems, said: “We are extremely proud to have been selected by MCR Pathways to help them develop Mentor Voice. Volunteers are pivotal to the success of the programme and for many, the idea of mentoring a young person can seem a bit daunting. Removing as many barriers as possible, through proactive support, is key to attracting and retaining volunteers, ensuring the programme flourishes so thousands of young people are given the opportunity to reach their potential.”
As well as interviews with mentors and staff, Mentor Voice also brings MCR Pathway’s mentoring resources together in one place, so they are easy to access. The digital platform has been created to complement the one-to-one support and training services already provided to mentors by the charity.
Founder of MCR Pathways, Dr Iain MacRitchie added: “Since our foundation in a single school in Glasgow, the value of mentors and staff supporting one another has always been clear. With the help of the team at Frog Systems, this digital innovation enables us to preserve that spirit as we continue to expand across Scotland and the UK.”
Anyone interested in finding out more about the work of MCR Pathways or in becoming a mentor should visit the MCR Pathways website.
To find out more about how Frog Systems can provide a lived experience support platform for your people click here.