Celebrating Great Mentoring Achievements!
The recent Student Mentoring Graduation ceremony offered a first hand insight into just how impactful this programme can be. Recent alumni, David Obayagbona took to the stage as compere, and there is nothing quite like seeing a young man, recently graduated from school, standing tall, commanding an audience, with confidence and charisma, to convince you that this programme transforms lives.
Our relationship with Business in the Community Ireland started in 2017 when basis.point agreed part funding for the Student Mentoring Programme. Andrea Lazenby-Simpson, Head of Education at BITCI spoke of the growing success of the programme with over 3,000 students (425 students directly through basis.point) matched with 2,800 mentors from industry, many of whom are drawn from within the funds industry.
Last month, a further 194 students graduated at an uplifting celebration of their achievements. The Student Mentoring Programme pairs pupils with individual corporate volunteers, giving students a chance to connect and communicate on an adult level with professionals in the working world, helping to improve confidence, communication, and social skills as well as receiving guidance on CV, interview technique and career-focussed topics.
David Obayagbona, shares insights from personal experience
And the true benefit of the programme was brought to life by rising star and recent programme alumni David Obayagbona, who many of us have had the privilege of meeting at our own basis.point Showcase earlier in the year.
David reflected on the transformative impact that his own mentor had on his development before moderating a lively panel discussion.
Speaking of the importance of the programme Niall Byrne, Bank of Ireland, had originally been attracted to becoming a mentor since he was from an area of disadvantage and understood the challenges the students can face when leaving school.
It has been very beneficial and rewarding to me to see how the students have grown in confidence over time and to know I’ve played a part in that. It has been great to see them believe they can go on and do well once they apply themselves.”
basis.point continue to grow our relationship with Business in the community in partnership with Prestige Patron IPUT, the Time to Grow programme which has placed 200 Transition Year students in placements across the 2 years, and the Summer Work Placement Programme, which has offered post-school paid internships to 37 students from DEIS schools over the past two years.
In total, thanks to basis.point funding, over 5,500 hours of work placement have been provided to students, offering opportunity to young people who would not otherwise have access to these environments, transforming lives.
