‘National Mentoring Day’ aims for every person in the United Kingdom to know how to access a mentor by 2020

Taking place on October 27th 2016, the national day will pay tribute to mentoring and raise awareness on the mentoring opportunities available. The campaign aims to shine a light on mentoring for a diverse cross section of our society-for the unemployed, young people, veterans, ex-offenders, the homeless or those suffering from mental or physical disabilities. Mentoring is a way to create a more inclusive society.

Chelsey Baker, Founder and CEO of National Mentoring Day, says, “To positively impact someone’s life is the gift that keeps on giving. Everyone has something to offer as a mentor and everyone has something to learn as a mentee.” “Mentoring should be accessible to any business, adult, child or group that needs it, not just for those who can afford it and National Mentoring Day will help make this happen.” 

The aim is to ensure that mentoring becomes more of a culture than ever before. A National Mentoring Summit is taking place at the House of Lords to bring together crucial figureheads alongside influential people in the mentoring world to help profile the amazing impact mentoring has. National Mentoring Day is developing key strategic partnerships across all sectors of business, education and society to make mentoring assessable to everyone.

Research has shown that 70% of small businesses which receive mentoring survive for five years of more; double the rate when compared with non-mentored companies. Research also shows that mentoring can have a significant impact on reaching young people who are disengaged from education to give them more hopeful futures. The evidence is clear: mentoring works but many people are still unaware of how to go about finding and accessing mentoring services.

In the lead up to National Mentoring Day individuals and businesses can share their photos, video messages, tips, stories and inspirational case studies to encourage mentoring. Across the UK mentors are being invited to join in and celebrate with the aim of connecting mentors and mentees and to pay tribute to the mentoring they received.

Alongside a nationwide ‘get involved programme’ free marketing materials have been created to inspire everyone across all sectors to take part in the celebrations. Resources include social media graphics, posters, badges, banners, videos, adverts and ‘Thank Your Mentor’ cards to recognise mentors who’ve made a difference.

Amrita Das from Careers & Enterprise Company said, “We are very excited to be supporting National Mentoring Day that aims to elevate the role that mentoring can play in creating a more fair society that gives opportunity to all.” “We know from our research that mentoring can have a huge impact on helping young people, especially those at the risk of disengagement achieve their potential and find their best possible futures. We are thrilled to be shining a light on all the great work that mentoring organisations and the business community have done in creating mentoring opportunities.”

Chelsey Baker added, “I know the difference mentoring can make to people’s lives and how rewarding it is. We need to recognise the great work that mentors do and thank them for their efforts, time and appreciate the invaluable contribution they make. More mentors are needed to support all areas of business, education and society to keep up with the demand which is why I launched the campaign as Mentoring has the potential to trigger significant benefits on a global scale.” For more information about National Mentoring Day, please visit: http://nationalmentoringday.org

ENDS