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MCR Pathways is an award winning mentoring programme which has been supporting young people since 2007. Their vision is that every care-experienced and disadvantaged young person gets the same education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances as every other young person. Their aim is to help young people unlock their potential, no matter their circumstances. MCR Mentors come from all walks of life and commit to supporting a young person in school for a minimum of one year, ideally more. Mentors meet with their young person at their school for just one hour per week and the difference this makes to their lives is transformational. No qualifications are needed to get involved. Training is provided and support is available throughout the mentoring journey. Mentors canbe supporting students(s) from one or more of the following: - Alloa Academy - Alva Academy - Lornshill Academy

ClubSport Aberdeen is a vibrant body directed by the clubs, for the clubs. As an independent charity, we provide a unified voice for sport clubs in Aberdeen at the top level across the city through our relationship with the Active Aberdeen Partnership. Our purpose is not only to provide the AAP with club input and a club perspective on arising matters, but also to ensure that Aberdeen has safe, sustainable and supported clubs. It does so by using expertise from within the club network as well as from partners in the wider network. This gives Aberdeen’s clubs the ability to develop and grow their membership, workforce and structure to provide their members with the best possible experience of the sport. Membership is open to all clubs across Aberdeen, and generally around 70-80 clubs register with us on an annual basis. The board of Club Sport Aberdeen is made up of a board of volunteer trustees who meet regularly to discuss programmes and initiatives that will benefit sports clubs across the city, which includes projects such as the North East Youth Panel and Active Schools Voucher projects. However, we would be keen to support clubs to deliver projects that also impact on mental health, increasing confidence and breaking down barriers to access sport and physical activity. The board currently have vacancies for Vice Chair, Treasurer and Welfare Officer positions to support the work of the board and various projects, with the Vice Chair and Treasurer positions also being charity trustee positions. • TREASURER - Oversee all financial aspects of ClubSport Aberdeen and be responsible for regular reporting to the ClubSport Board and help submit annual reporting to OSCR. • VICE CHAIR - support and deputise for the Chairperson in leading ClubSport Aberdeen in developing and delivering its objectives. • WELFARE OFFICER - responsible for promoting safeguarding throughout ClubSport Aberdeen and working with others to ensure a safe and inclusive environment is achieved. Board meetings take place on a bi-monthly basis, with other meetings scheduled as required. Time commitment would generally be 2-3 hours per month, depending on the meeting cycle and membership processing. A fantastic opportunity to help and make a real difference for club and grassroots community sport in Aberdeen. All help is greatly appreciated. For further details please contact Mark Pain, Support to the Board of Trustees at email: mapain@sportaberdeen.co.uk or telephone: 07721 727797.

- Willing to participate in activities and learn about new cultures? - Ready to create social change and improve peoples lives? No matter where you are in Scotland, you have access to training and learning opportunities abroad that can help you gain skills, boost confidence, and earn qualifications. Our organisation offers multiple trips throughout the year, with mentors available to provide support. We partner with other organizations to offer placements in Ghana, Romania, and potentially Eastern European countries, each with a unique set of activities and tasks that focus on developing various skills. We offer shorter 3 to 4 day trips for young people, aged 16-30, as well as longer trips of 2 to 3 weeks for anyone over 16. An exciting and great opportunity to help and make a difference. For more information please contact Megan Beattie, Project Delivery Lead at email: start@standinternational.org or telephone: 0131 659 9943. Further information is also available at: https://www.standinternational.org/

The Risk Factory is a purpose built centre set up like a film set of everyday situations where visitors can experience risk in a safe environment covering topics such as fire, home and road safety. Our volunteer Safety / Tour Guides escort small groups round the lifelike scenarios delivering safety messages and running simple activities that enable them to think about dangers and actions to reduce and / or avoid risk.

This is a fun and supportive volunteering opportunity for 14 to 21 year olds who are interested in health and wellbeing. The Junction Youth Advisors (JYAs) meet as a group to talk about issues affecting young people's health and wellbeing in North-East Edinburgh. You'll make a real difference to The Junction by helping us to improve and promote our services. The JYAs are often asked to contribute their ideas to city-wide, national and international projects too. You can help try out our new services, create new resources like posters and videos, promote The Junction at events, take part in discussions and suggest your own ideas. This is a great opportunity to meet new people and build up your confidence in a safe and friendly group which values young people's rights and voices.

D&G Befriending Project is a local charity which offers an early intervention service across the region for eight to eighteen year olds. It recruits and trains adult volunteers who are, in turn, matched one-to-one with individual young people. Once matched, the befriender commits to spending a few hours a week or fortnight with “their” young person, spending time building up a relationship and taking part in shared activities. Children and young people referred to the Project may be isolated within the community or experiencing difficulties at home or school. The time spent with an adult befriender can provide vital individual attention and release from day-to-day pressures. Having and working with a befriender can help the young person tackle difficulties before they get too big. The young people benefit from the energy and enthusiasm of their befrienders and gain confidence from forming a positive relationship with a supportive adult. Volunteer befrienders are men and women from all walks of life. They may be a student, a parent, or an older person. The most important factors are that they have an interest in young people, are reliable and have some time to spare. The Project has found over the past 20 years that having a befriender who will commit to spending a few hours a week or fortnight - to share enjoyable activities or simply have time to chat can make a huge impact in a young persons life.

Your role as the Telephone Befriender is to engage in conversation with a client over the phone, building a rapport and engaging with them on a weekly basis (note: some befriending matches require more than one call per week). Most of the referrals come from our partners and other agencies but some are self-referrals. All referrals are due to the client being lonely and feeling isolated. It should be noted, that does not necessarily mean they are an older person living on their own. Some referrals are for younger adults who may live in a ‘busy’ household. As a Befriender your co-ordinator will match you to a suitable client. This will be done after finding out more about both yourself and the client to see if there are similarities in personality, hobbies etc. It will not be done purely on age – often the perfect match is with different generations. Your role will be to chat to the client, using your own phone from your own home. You will be required to actively engage and encourage conversation – sometimes this needs to be led by you, the volunteer, as there could be barriers with the clients such as: confidence, disability, speech issues etc. The Telephone Befriender will not be expected to offer advice or to ‘counsel’ the client – you are simply someone to have a chat to and be a listening ear – something for the client to look forward to each week. Befrienders should give minimal personal details about themselves and should never ‘off-load’ their own issues to a client. Your coordinator will always be there to deal with any concerns you have about any of your matches. VASA induction training will be given and guidelines issued around safety protocols for volunteers and clients. Workshops will be available from time to time to cover areas of interest around Befriending. A PVG check will be carried out prior to commencement as a befriender. It should be noted that this role does not include any face-to-face befriending and no volunteer should arrange to meet with a client. Post COVID, if a one-to-one, face-to-face service was developed, appropriate training would be given then if deemed applicable. DUTIES: The role of the Telephone Befriender will be as follows: • To offer friendship and encouragement, via a telephone call, to a client who is isolated and lonely. • To provide a listening ear. • To facilitate conversation and engage with clients. • To build up a relationship with the befriendee, giving them something to look forward to on a weekly basis. • To commit to a minimum of 20min per week to the service.

The Sporting Aces reach out to people of all ages within the community who feel they may not be able to try different sports because of their disability. We help them to break down barriers to participation. The Sporting Aces welcome everyone to try a variety of sports. The club actively promotes activities for those who have a learning disability and any other additional support need. The club have been running successful sporting activities in the community for a number of years. Volunteers are required to support the children, young people and adults who attend the various activities

We are looking for volunteers to assist our Trail Leaders, supporting groups of young people on our Treun Wilderness trails at various locations in Scotland. The programme empowers young people by helping develop self confidence, self awareness and mental wellbeing, whilst also teaching practical employability skills. It is spread over 8 trails through the year and across a variety of highland estates. The format of the week involves 5 to 7 days immersed in nature in the heart of a rural setting, with two to three nights spent wild camping and on trail and one day of conservation volunteering. Group sizes are a minimum of 6 and maximum of 8. They are supported by a fully qualified and certified outdoor instructor, fully qualified and certified wilderness therapist and one to two trained volunteers. Wilderness Foundation UK are looking for volunteers from a range of backgrounds to help support our trails and would encourage those with experience of wild camping and hiking, who are keen to support Scotland's Young People to apply.

We recruit and train volunteer mentors who are matched with a young person based on personality and career aspirations. Mentors meet with their young person at their school for just one hour a week and provide a compassionate, listening ear. MCR Mentors: Build a relationship, improving the self-esteem of their young person Help their young people discover their own passion for learning & achieving Empower their young people to overcome the challenges thrown at them