In order to become an Arts Emergency mentor, you will need to complete a registration form during our open registration period (usually August-September). Registration is closed until August 2025.
To join our movement and start helping people today, sign up to our Network for lots of ad-hoc opportunities to help support and advise young people outside of the mentoring programme.
Should I be a mentor?
Our volunteers are reliable, passionate and warm. Most have studied an arts or humanities subject at university or have worked in the creative industries for over four years. We match mentor pairs based on their shared interests, experiences and geographical location.
- Who's it for? People who are happy to be paired with a 16-18 year old for a 12-month period, meeting once a month from January each year (normally in-person) in Manchester, Merseyside, and London. Occasionally we will pair young people with mentors remotely, and we are hoping to expand into new regions, so you can absolutely sign up in advance of us working in your region.
- What do they do? Mentors support young people in understanding their next steps out of compulsory education. They provide a friendly ear and a inside perspective on a creative, academic, or cultural field. Pairs meet once a month for about an hour. Mentoring can be flexible around your commitments. During busy periods e.g. exams, you may not meet every month, but mentor pairs tend to make up for it the following month.
- Considerations: 16-18 year olds have a lot going on! You may need to work to get your mentee to come out of their shell and develop the language to talk to you not as a teacher, or a family member, but as a professional friend.
- Number of mentors needed: This is our flagship programme and we need as many mentors as we can get! We'll be aiming to match 300 pairs in 2025 and while not everyone who signs up will be matched every year, everyone will be trained and offered additional development opportunities.
Mentor traits
Our mentors are all unique, but they do share some similar traits. Our volunteers are committed to being:
- proactive communicators
- able to relate well to people
- good at problem solving or talking through issues
- reliable and dedicated
- able to provide insight from their personal experiences
We’re especially keen to engage mentors who may have shared experiences with our mentees, such as people from an ethnic minority backgrounds, LGTBQIA+ people, disabled people, and those who have identified as working class.
We ask our volunteers to uphold values of being bold, optimistic and community-focussed. We will ask matched mentors to agree to a Code of Conduct and provide referees we can contact for a character reference.
Career Areas
Our mentors usually have a good understanding of a creative industry, either having worked in that industry for 3+ years and/or having studied it at university level. However, this isn't a requirement, as we know great mentors without these traits. Below is a list of the areas they might have experience in:
- Academia & Research
- Advertising & Marketing
- Animation
- Architecture
- Arts Administration
- Comedy
- Crafts
- Creative Writing
- Cultural Education & Engagement
- Dance
- Fashion
- Film & TV
- Galleries
- Gaming
- Graphic Design
- Heritage
- Industrial Design
- Interior Design
- Journalism
- Libraries & Archives
- Museums
- Music
- Photography
- Politics & Activism
- Publishing
- Radio & Podcasting
- Theatre
- Visual Arts
If your area of expertise is not on this list, that doesn't mean you can't volunteer - we are always very happy to expand!
Matching
We hand-match pairs based on your combined interests, experience, location and needs, and we use the information you provide in the form below. We train more mentors than we have young people because it allows us to make the best possible match for every young person. This does mean that we are unable to match everyone who signs up. However, even if you are not matched in the initial rounds, we will contact you if we do have a suitable match further down the line or when we next recruit young people.
We usually undertake matching in November for a January start.
Training
Our 'core' training sessions provide essential insight into how our mentoring programmes work and all the tools you need to provide amazing support to your young person. In this training session you’ll learn transferable skills about mentoring, coaching, safeguarding and some guidance on structuring sessions, accountability and goal setting. We’ll also answer any questions you might have about supporting a young person.
Supplementary training
Throughout the year we'll provide opportunities for you to attend extra training sessions to enhance your capabilities as a mentor.
Retraining & Safeguarding
You can always join another training session if you want a recap, and we'll release an updated safeguarding video each year which we require all returning volunteers to watch.
"You just have to throw yourself into it and I think those [impostor syndrome] fears will dissipate and you will feel that you're part of something bigger, something meaningful, and you're truly making a lasting, lasting impact."
Cory, 2021 mentor