Volunteer lands permanent youth coach role

18 May 2023

Sarah Campbell has been a volunteer mentor with Presbyterian Support since December 2021. With a study background in psychology, she had been searching for a suitable volunteering role related to her studies for some time - ideally working with children in social services. This is when she found out Presbyterian Support were looking for mentors.

Sarah says the benefits of mentoring are numerous. She particularly enjoys seeing the child’s progress, especially their growth and positive behavioural changes. And from the child’s perspective, “It teaches you new things and takes you to new places,” says Sarah’s current mentee.

Her advice to other would-be mentors is to, “Persevere! Take the time to build the relationship and it will pay off. At the beginning, the mentee might not be sure you’ll stick around, but it’s worth the time.” Once the relationship has had time to grow, the child often feels safer opening up to you.

Sarah currently commits 2-3 hours per week to volunteering, but this is soon to change - not because she no longer wants to volunteer, but because she has recently secured a full-time role as a youth coach in Presbyterian Support’s Youth Service team.

Applying for a permanent role was always her next step, so when she saw the opportunity, and was encouraged to apply by her mentor coordinator, she took it. Her volunteer role has been especially useful for the transition – as she sees many familiar faces and has already made plenty of lasting connections.

Sarah says she chose Presbyterian Support because she, “Really liked how the staff talked about the services in a positive way and how the staff were treated – I wanted to work in a supportive workplace.”

Sarah’s new role will involve supporting young people with budgeting, parenting, housing, and education assistance to ensure they receive the Government funding they are eligible for.

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Volunteer lands permanent youth coach role

Sarah says she chose Presbyterian Support because she, “Really liked how the staff talked about the services in a positive way and how the staff were treated – I wanted to work in a supportive workplace.”

Become a volunteer mentor

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