The presentations on Slovenia’s experience of NGOs and Poland’s two-way volunteer links between the young and older people were enlightening and the presentation on future doctors volunteering in Africa was inspirational. The visit to the Neighbourhood Youth Centre had a good feel about it and the discussion after the presentations gave a good insight into the benefits of involving foreign volunteers with the children as well as the common sense approach of zero tolerance in the behaviour of the children.

After the workshops the presentations of the outcomes were interesting and usually delivered with good humour.

On a personal note Ljubljana itself is a clearly a place to have a follow up visit – nice place, nice people.

Since retiring I have been a member ofStrathclydeUniversity’s 3Ls and when the University sought volunteers for their Intergenerational Mentoring project it was an opportunity to work with school students who had ambitions to go to university engineering degree courses.  The aim of the project is for older people with experience relevant to the student’s career ambitions to mentor senior school students to help them gain access to university. The project is targeting schools in deprived areas ofGlasgowwhich have not in the past had many school leavers going on to university and achieving professional careers.

In the workshop summary session inSloveniaa question was asked about the mentoring project and I would like to share my experience in the project’s first 2 years.

My approach has been influenced by my experience as a civil engineer but in the mentoring I have not provided direct advice but I have provided information including the various branches of engineering, the different university courses available to them and the entrance qualifications required by various universities. Meetings were held on a regular basis and took the form of discussions on a variety of topics, an important part being getting to know the students, their interests, their ambitions and their strengths and weaknesses. In turn I related my own background and experiences over 40 years in engineering and management. I did not directly tutor but from time to time gave help on class work by showing where relevant information was available through the internet. This learning curve was appreciated by them and satisfying for me (I was surprised and pleased with what I found on the internet – in fact I was on a learning curve as well as the students).

In the first year of the project I had two students:-

The first came toGlasgowfromGuyanasome ten years ago and his ambition was to be a civil engineer. He had an interest in a civil engineering university course which included architecture and I was able to tell him about the wide variety of civil engineering work including structural engineering which often required close working relationships with architects. He left school after Fifth year taking a broader civil engineering course atGlasgowUniversity.

The second had set his sights on being a pilot and had contacted the Royal Air Force which recommended that he obtained an engineering degree before applying. Early during the mentoring, the Government announced cuts which caused the RAF to stop recruiting and training pilots. The emphasis turned to looking into his options and these included obtaining an engineering degree that would relate to his flying interests and after his Sixth year he has settled on an aeronautical engineering degree course atGlasgowUniversity. This gives him opportunities to be involved with aircraft and flight in his future career and, becauseGlasgowUniversitystudents can join the Air Cadets who have flying lessons, his ambitions to be a pilot can still be realised.

In the second year of the project the student’s preferred career path is in the field of mechanical engineering but he has been influenced by a desire to enter into paid employment when he leaves school. His ideal would be to go to university under the sponsorship of an employer but there are few such opportunities for this route. His preferred route now is to find an apprenticeship which will enable him to take further education on day release, which could at a later stage give him access to university courses. I have worked with him in preparation of his application forms and an important part of that has been demonstrating what experience he has gained outside school, including responsibility in leadership of group activities in the Boys Brigade. Finding engineering employers taking on apprentices is a continuing involvement with him.  

It is apparent from feedback provided by all of the students involved in the mentoring project that they see mentoring as being helpful to them in gaining access to university courses which are appropriate to their capabilities.StrathclydeUniversityhopes to continue the mentoring project and I will be very willing to support the University in any way I can.

My background was in Science, Education and Museums.  When I went along to hear about the Project there were 20 volunteers, 17 women and 3 men, all retired.  The Project leader told us a little more about the Project which basically was to research the potential to give the pupils more confidence in themselves and in their abilities to get into further education and a career by having a supportive adult available to talk to on a regular basis who was not their teacher or parent but who had been though University and had had a professional career. The mentor’s task would be to listen to their concerns, try to give them help from personal experience and advise them in a supportive way.

I was paired with a young man in his final school year who had not done very well academically in the previous year because by his own admission he spent too much time playing computer games!

Our meetings were approximately one hour or less every week for six months and the conversation varied from his subjects and how he was doing, to homework and how he made time and space for it, his ambitions (he wanted to do Biochemistry at University), the alternatives to University, his family and friends and how he spent his spare time.  I told him a bit about myself as well and we seemed to have a good relationship in which I listened to him and vice versa.

However at his preliminary exams before his final external examination he did not do well. He tried to hide his disappointment during our sessions and told me how he was taking extra classes and that if he did not get into University he could still get qualifications through a Further Education College.

I was vexed for him as I felt his seeming lack of ambition was something that we had been trying to counter in the Project. Alternatively if he was not an able student a College environment might be more supportive for him.  Subsequently what we did was practice strategies for exams as I felt he had a lot of knowledge but struggled with the exam environment. This seemed to help and we practised how to get ready for exams, how to read the paper carefully and how to time the answers to the paper. We talked about panic reactions to questions, fear of failure and how to calm oneself.

This all sounds straightforward as I write but it was new to him and he seemed to take it on board. I am not sure just how much help I was to him other than being someone who was there every week solely to meet him and was interested in how he was. Perhaps that was enough! He did eventually go to College and is doing well.

The Project is being evaluated by the University through interviews with mentees and mentors and through weekly reports of mentors’ meetings.

Next morning we went to the KADIS headquarters where the day’s meetings were to be held.   The first item of the day was a presentation by Tina Divjak from CNVOS , an organisation which seeks to empower NGOs in Slovenia.  This is done through lobbying, enforcement of regulations and communication between government and NGOs. It is reckoned that in a country of 2 million, half are involved with NGOs and 90% of these are volunteers.

After a break we had a short presentation by the Polish group about SUTW, an organisation for volunteers who work with the elderly and young people, especially young disabled people.  Also work in a centre for pre-school children where the volunteers are regarded in some cases as substitute grandparents.  They have also formed a choir and a theatre group and we were shown slides of these. 

The next item on the agenda was a presentation by Nina Kravanja a medical student who had been part of a medical humanitarian expedition to Zambia.  She showed a series of slides to illustrate how basic the living conditions were for the volunteers, but were better than those of some of the locals.  They took with them a large supply of drugs and medical equipment and set up a new physiotherapy unit which will be a lasting  testament of their visit.

An enjoyable lunch at Via Bona followed.

The afternoon session consisted of 3 workshops, and we each attended one of these.  I was involved with one looking at the website.  After a plenary session and a short video by the group from Barcelona, we finished for the day around 4pm and headed back into the city to explore a bit more and visit Tivoli Park.

Our evening meal was again very enjoyable in the beautiful setting of the Pr’ Noni restaurant.

The next morning started in the hotel M, where we were staying, with a talk about Slovene Philanthropy whose aim is to increase the quality of life in the community and advocacy for the socially weak and encourage volunteering as means of achieving this.  Much of the work is concerned with the welfare of migrants – help for those without paperwork, and therefore no access to work or healthcare – and intergenerational cooperation.  This organisation feels that the value of volunteering in Slovenia is not high and reckon that 180,000 volunteer regularly and 275,000 on any one day.  This is rather less that suggested by CNVOS on the first day.  Their motto printed on the front and back of a T shirt is

Good work does not need a promotional T shirt

Good work needs you

We then travelled across the city to visit a neighbourhood youth centre at Črnuče.  Here we were told about the work of the centre and 2 young volunteers, one of whom had travelled from Spain to work in the centre for a year, told us about their experiences.  The aim of the centre, which is one of a group around the city, is to keep young people busy and channel their energy with indoor and outdoor activities.  Again, much of the work involves working with migrants and helping the young people integrate in Slovenian society.  Their motto is turning youthful energy into positive energy.

We then returned to the city centre for lunch at Vodnikov Hram. 

Unfortunately we had then to travel to the airport for our journey home.

I was left feeling that my personal contribution to volunteering was not very significant compared with the excellent work being done by others in the group both abroad and here in Glasgow. 

I also was most impressed that everybody made their presentations in excellent English and apart from the 6 of us from Glasgow, all the delegates were working in a foreign language.

Overall, the meeting was very well organised and the food and hospitality were excellent throughout.  Thanks are due to the organising group from KADIS in Slovenia, especially Marusa and Viktorija, and also to Lynda Scott for inviting me to be part of the project and her very efficient organising from the Glasgow end.

Eleanor Crawford.

Thank you so much for organising such an interesting meeting In Slovenia.  I have received extremely positive feedback from the volunteers from Glasgow who participated in the meeting.  The agenda was well balanceD with a great mix of workshops and discussion, presentations, informal networking and cultural activity.  I especially enjoyed the presentation Nina Kravanja detailing her experience of volunteering as a doctor in Africa which was inspirational.

We all enjoyed our trip to Slovenia and hope to return some day. Thanks again for all your hard work; we really appreciated being so well looked after.

Best wishes

Lynda Scott, Project Coordinator, University of Strathclyde

•  Kick off meeting Barcelona

• Meeting Vienna

• Meeting Slupsk

• Meeting Glasgow

And here is a additional report about two meetings in Berlin and Slupsk with their theater groups:

• Theatermeeting in Slupsk and Berlin

Many students at the Senior Studies Institute enjoy gifting their time and experience in voluntary activities. The two main opportunities for volunteering are University Guides and Computer Buddies.

University Guides

Ambassadors for Strathclyde University’s historic buildings, the Barony and the Ramshorn, as well as Campus tours.

The volunteer guides offer a personalised and unique service to the community by showing members of the public around the historic Barony and Ramshorn buildings during the summer months.

In the summer of 1994 the Barony Hall and the Ramshorn were first opened to the public and a group of Learning in Later Life students was recruited and trained to act as guides.

During the summer months the two buildings are open on certain days when guides are available to conduct tours and in the case of the Ramshorn, also to take visitors round the Graveyard. The guides are on duty too during the annual Doors Open Day programme in September and at Churches Doors Open Day in the Spring. As part of their duties, guides are involved in conducting campus tours and assisting delegates at conferences. Over 2500 visitors are recorded annually at these two buildings.

In winter, the guides meet monthly. Talks on relevant topics are arranged and visits to places of interest, lunches and other social occasions are organised. At present there are 30 guides.

In 2006, the University Volunteer Tour Guides conducted tours of the Barony and Ramshorn for 2791 visitors. 1421 visitors came from overseas, from 56 different countries. 1275 people made visits to the two venues from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England, and of these 1147 were Scots.

Since the guides began in 1994, over 29,000 visitors have toured the Barony and Ramshorn. Over half are overseas visitors from virtually every country in the world, including Azerbaijan, Mauritius, Oman and Panama.

*  Scotland’s first Sunday School was held in the Barony
    in 1775.
*  The Architect of the Ramshorn, Thomas Rickman,
    classified the different styles of medieval architecture
    (perpendicular, early English etc.). The Ramshorn is
    his only church in Scotland.
*  Tony Blair’s parents were married in the Barony.
*  The “neck-breaking” stairs of the Ramshorn were featured
    in a cartoon in a Glasgow newspaper of the time.

Computer Buddies

One-to-One introduction of older people to computers.

The Computer Buddy Project has been running at the Centre for Lifelong Learning since 1999. The project involves one-to-one sessions where Volunteer Buddies take students through the basics of how to use a computer in a friendly and sociable way. To date more than 500 students have benefited from a Buddy session.

The Buddies are all trained Volunteers, who have been involved in the project for a number of years. They devote their own time to helping beginners get started, overcome fears, and enjoy the experience.

The computer buddy programme is aimed at older people who have never used a computer before and would like to, or have recently bought a PC but don’t really know what to do.  It is targeted at individuals who have very little or no knowledge of computers.

The Buddy Project is broken down into three parts:
1. Webwise Taster
2. Internet and E-mail
3. Word Processing

The first session is FREE. The follow on sessions can be booked at a cost of £4 per session.

The Buddy sessions are an ideal way to prepare for one of the Learning in Later Life programme courses, such as ‘Computing for Absolute Beginners’ or the ‘Beginner’s Guide to Using a PC’. It is recommended that one, if not both of these courses are completed prior to enrolling for the accredited ‘Introduction to Information Technology’ course.

It was for teenagers like Jordan, with ability and ambition but no comparable social network that the Strathclyde Mentoring Scheme was designed.  He was paired with Dr Hilary Capell, a retired physician at Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary and also an Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of Glasgow.  Dr Capell also shared her detailed knowledge of working in the medical profession, studying tips and how to get through the university interviewing process, as well as tutoring Jordan through his English exam.

Jordan, who lives with his grandparents in Milton, said knowing Dr Capell has volunteered her time for him is an extra motivation:  “If it wasn’t for Hilary I wouldn’t have tried as hard for my English higher.”

Dr Capell adds: “I have taught students for a long time but I have never seen anyone try to work towards it so it was very interesting for me.  I also recognised that for some people in some areas of Glasgow there were real challenges.  I think there is a great feeling within many people that they would like to help young people but they don’t know how to direct that help.”

The relationship between the teenager and the retired doctor has continued after the mentoring scheme finished, working on Jordan’s interview technique and on his competitive university entrance exam for the dentistry course he is now pursuing.

Headteacher, Liz Ervine of Springburn Academy says it is difficult to prove the impact mentors were having on pupils, but her instinct is that the initiative is working.  “You get the gut feeling talking to pupils and mentors, that when you have a relationship with an adult who has been to university, they can give the young people the skills to get there themselves, and when they do get there to survive and pass exams.”  

The offer of support to a high-achieving group rather than to a struggling group of pupils confused some of those involved in the scheme.  In fact, when her Guidance teacher told Olivia Mustard she was going to have a mentor she felt a little insulted.  The 17 year-old, who has started a Religious Studies degree at the University of Glasgow, said “I’ve been involved in buddying younger pupils and thought, “I don’t have any special educational need, do I have a problem? But they explained that it was someone who had gone down the route I wanted to go down and they would give me their experience.”   

Her mentor, Barbara Brown, a retired educational psychologist, believes the success of any type of mentoring is dependent on the inter-personal relationship:  “You want to connect with somebody you are going to work with, that’s the first thing and then it’s very much a matter of hearing what they have to say.”

The mentor gains a lot from the relationship too,  says Ms Brown.  “Olivia and I are still in touch with each other which is delightful.  She makes me feel proud. It’s worked out really well.”

The University of Strathclyde is hopeful the scheme will be adopted by other Glasgow schools based in deprived areas.  As the mentors are volunteers, the costs are very low compared with the potential benefits.