Mentoring has the power to change the trajectory of a young person’s future. Sport and physical activity possess that same power.
That's why, two years ago, we launched our mentoring training programme.
As we near the end of the first phase, here we reflect on the achievements, the lessons and the future of the programme.
What is the mentoring training programme?
The mentoring programme is offered to Levelling the Playing Field's Tier 3 delivery partners; those working one-to-one with participants in London, the West Midlands, Gwent and South Yorkshire.
We teamed up with Aspire Training Solutions who delivered the package of staff training, a package that included:
- 1st4Sport Level 3 Workforce Mentoring qualification
- RSPH Level 2 Award in Improving the Public’s Health course
- Training in trauma-responsive mentoring
The training programme develops frontline staff to achieve our common goals:
- Increase the number of ethnically diverse children taking part in sport and physical activity
- Prevent and divert ethnically diverse children from becoming involved in the Criminal Justice System
Rather than parachuting in provision that has to establish itself, form relationships and build trust with young people, the programme is about using the experts who are already in the communities.
The programme recognises the skills these local practitioners already have, the quality of services they already deliver, and then adds mentoring into that already-successful mix, taking the level of support they provide to the next level.
What were the outcomes of the first cohort?
The first cohort saw 65 mentors engage with the programme. It has built learners’ capabilities and confidence to develop trusting relationships with their mentees, hold difficult conversations, challenge behaviour, tackle complex issues and understand when to signpost to further services.
We’ve found that peer-to-peer learning among the cohort and their collective lived experience has played a huge part in the learning process.
This feeds into the underpinning theory and everyone learns from each other along the way, sharing good practice and driving change whilst listening to what young people want from the services that support them.
Through this development of knowledge, skills and behaviours, the learners recognise the value and potential of mentoring, the importance of sharing best practice and why it’s crucial to standardise best practice.
What lessons have been learnt from the first cohort?
The first phase of any programme is an opportunity to learn what works and what needs developing.
As we mentioned at the start, the programme was launched two years ago. And two years ago we were in the middle of a pandemic. Suffice to say, we were faced with a few hurdles.
- Online vs face-to-face delivery
The biggest challenge was having to conduct the training remotely.
At times, the training required learners to open up, to talk about their own lived experience and how they could use that to support mentees. We know that a foundation of trust between course leaders and learners, and between the group of learners, is essential for people to feel comfortable to share.
Delivering the course online meant building that trust took slightly longer than it would have done had it been delivered face-to-face. There’s actually research conducted by Active Teams that found it took six to nine months to build trust through online working, whereas the same level of trust was built face-to-face within just two days.
The online delivery also meant that the quality assurance was more challenging when assessing mentoring practice, reverse mentoring and peer mentoring.
With most of the cohort coming from a sports coaching background, many were practical and kinaesthetic learners. For some, their past educational experiences made them less receptive. Not being in the same room meant it wasn’t always as easy to ensure everyone was engaged.
This remote delivery has taught us that for online work to be engaged in effectively, that groundwork of trust must first be established through face-to-face interaction.
The level of conversation and dialogue and the depth of conversation and dialogue that you’re able to have in a face-to-face environment is over and above what you can achieve in a remote environment.
Now we’re post-pandemic, for the next phase of the project, we’ll be engaging in more face-to-face delivery to encourage an even greater level of networking, rapport building and practice sharing.
- Regionalised delivery
The cohort taking part in this first phase of the programme was made up of individuals from varying organisations and locations across the UK.
This has allowed us to learn that the issues being faced, for example, by specialist partners in London, are very different to those in South Yorkshire.
Going forward, therefore, we’ll deliver the training to smaller, regionalised groups, enabling us to tailor sessions to their needs.
- Engagement at all levels
Every layer of the organisation needs to be involved in and committed to the training process for it to be a success, from the individual undertaking the course through to management.
The first cohort has taught us that outlining what this commitment looks like is key. Learners and organisations must be clear on the attitude, mindset, environment and ethos required.
What’s the future of the programme?
We’re excited to take this programme and partnership forward.
Now in a post-Covid world, we’re able to realise the delivery model we envisaged had we not been restricted. We can now grow and evolve that offer based on learning from the first phase. We’re already putting this into practice with our specialist partners Palace for Life through the delivery of in-person sessions tailored to the needs of their trainee mentors.
The first cohort has proven the programme has huge potential to create meaningful and long-term change. And as we move into the second phase, we’re going to ensure this impact is not just sustained but increased. The more mentors we can engage, the more young people we can reach, and the more lives we can change.