Raymond

Raymond (left) and Charles

I worked in government finance for many years, where my work included mentoring. I’m conscious of the blessing my home is so I wanted to help a charity that provides homes for others – and mentoring seemed a good way to get involved.

I started meeting with Charles a few months ago.

He shares parts of his story with me as he feels he wants, so my picture is not complete and it doesn’t need to be. We’ve been working on confidence in group settings and getting to know the Bible better.

Talking it through

He’s quite shy and an introvert, and I am, too. We talk through strategies to use, thinking ahead to a group setting and talking through ways to prepare and approaches to use – how to behave, what he wants to say, what he doesn’t.  

We’re slowly opening up about more of our own lives as we get to know each other better. Sharing builds trust and trust leads to more sharing – it’s a virtuous circle.

A hope and a future

Charles’s goal is to get more training and then secure paid employment once some specific circumstances make that feasible.

It’s a difficult time to get a job, and there will be knockbacks.

But I’m here to help him through that, to cope with it, learn from it, pick himself up and try again.

I took part in some very useful training mornings and have ACT’s handbook, which is a valuable reminder. It is important and reassuring to know that the backup of ACT is there were I to run into a tricky situation.

If you’re reading this and considering becoming a mentor, I’d encourage you to look into it. Find out about joining an ACT training session to find out more. Pray about it. It is a commitment and it can have challenges. But if you feel a draw, maybe it’s God.

I know I’ve enjoyed it.