What is mentoring?

Mentoring means different things to different people and so can cause much confusion! It's pretty much interchangeable with coaching or befriending. Our mentors are Befrienders, which implies being able to empathise with another person's situation and a willingness to support them by active listening, not being judgmental, building their confidence to take decisions they need to take, in the way they can manage to take it.

Our befriender-mentors are all volunteers, coming from all walks of life; primarily from St Neots but also from surrounding towns and villages. In this way we can try to match the needs of the person seeking mentoring with a mentor with similar experience and understanding. They don't sort people's situations out for them, as this puts control in the mentor's hands and takes it away from the person concerned. Instead they offer an objective pair of ears and eyes to find ways of resolving the situation. Sometines the magic is done through just listening and caring. Other times they may point them in the direction of services which provide practical help, or professional guidance.