Volunteer Coach/Mentor

Young women in the study are aged 16 to 25 years old and currently or recently have been NEET – not in education, employment, or training. 

The Coach acts as a supportive guide who helps young women work through a programme called HOPEFUL. It is a workbook of videos and practical exercises. The workbook is designed to help young women feel more positive about themselves, increase the time they spend in meaningful activities, and develop a more hopeful mindset. 

Coaches are not therapists and do not provide counselling or mental health treatment. 

Instead, the role of the Coach is to:

• Help participants to make the most of the workbook materials in a practical and encouraging way
• Talk through practical questions about the exercises
• Support goal-setting and problem-solving around everyday challenges

Coaches receive training and guidance on what meetings to have with young women, when and what to focus on. They also have ongoing guidance on how to keep the support helpful, safe, and within clear boundaries. 

This is a voluntary role. We cannot provide payment or reimbursement for any expenses, such as travel, should these be incurred. In addition to training and ongoing support, we will provide a certificate of achievement for providing coaching to one or more young women and can provide a reference for this voluntary role.

Welcoming process

Anyone interested in this role will need to have a brief online interview with a member of the research team. We can talk to you about the role and discuss whether it seems right for you at this moment in time. For all those continuing on to become a Coach, we would provide training materials for you to complete in your own time. Once you’ve completed the training, you would have a “getting started” call with a member of the research team to talk about the training materials and check that you are ready to start coaching. 

We are looking for volunteers able to: 

• Provide coaching sessions for young women within working hours (variable 50-65 minutes per session)
• Attend 1-hour supervision sessions (online) in working hours about fortnightly
• Commit to a minimum of 6 months of volunteering