Educational mentoring

RSN is adapting its work in light of the Coronavirus. Please click here to find out more. If you have particular questions about COVID-19's impact on the Educational Mentoring Programme, please contact Andrew Cooper. 

RSN offers tailor-made educational mentoring opportunities to young refugees and asylum seekers across London, Birmingham, Oxford and the East of England (Peterborough and Cambridge) who need extra support with their education.

How does mentoring work?

• RSN takes referrals of young people from colleges, social services and a variety of other organisations and individuals
• We meet the young person for an initial assessment of their educational aspirations and current circumstances
• We match the individual young person with a trained, local volunteer mentor 
• The mentor meets them each week, in a public place, to support them towards their educational goal
• We ask for a minimum commitment of six month from both the young person and the mentor.  After six months the relationship is reviewed to see if both mentor and mentee would like to continue

Who is mentoring for?

• Mentoring is for refugees, asylum seekers and survivors of trafficking aged 14-25 who need extra support with their education
• We prioritise young people who are in the UK without their families and are looked after by social services (unaccompanied asylum-seeking children) 

 “I am happy when I meet my mentor.  I want to pass my exams this year so that next year I can study mechanics and my mentor helps me so much with this. This is good for me!” (16 year old boy from Afghanistan)

How can you get a mentor?

If you are a young person who would like a mentor, please talk to your teacher or social worker or get in touch with us directly. 

• West London - Shna Oleszczuk
• North London - Rachel Sears
• South London (including Croydon) - Yvie Younane
• East London - Susanna Epling
• Oxford -  Andrew Cooper
• Birmingham - Rosy Cockburn
• East of England - Becca Torrance