In another article celebrating our volunteers in Volunteers’ Week, here we throw the spotlight on our online mentors.
‘I would have been so excited and grateful to have had the opportunity of being on the John Schofield Trust online mentoring scheme at their age…. I also think it’s a great opportunity to pass on some of the advice I’ve gained myself from my mentor through the Trust.’ – Online mentor
Our online mentoring scheme is a 12-week programme which we set up in 2018 in conjunction with Brightside, the online mentoring charity. The scheme supports sixth formers who are interested in a career in journalism who live and/or study in disadvantaged areas. The scheme finishes off with an experience day at a local university (see picture above).
‘My mentor was really helpful in guiding me on a variety of branches in journalism. I now feel that I know the steps which I need to take following A-levels in order to establish myself in a successful journalistic career.’ – Online mentee
We recruit our volunteers from our mentees on our face-to-face early career mentoring scheme. This provides them with an excellent professional development opportunity, as well as a way to give something back to the news community.
Our founder and chair of trustees, Susannah Schofield says:
‘Our online mentors are key in inspiring talented sixth formers to dare to be the next Stacey Dooley, Sir Trevor McDonald or Louis Theroux – or whover their journalism hero might be. Our volunteers map out pathways for the students to reach their goals, be it behind a camera, making podcasts or investigative journalism. Our online mentors open the door to the newsrooms to students who do not benefit from privilege. With these students entering the newsrooms of tomorrow, we can realise our vision of an inclusive and diverse news industry.
Thank you to all our online mentor volunteers for making this happen.’
If you would like to volunteer for the John Schofield Trust, please get in touch with Cathy Farmer on cathy.farmer@johnschofieldtrust.org.uk