Partner Article

Free mentoring training workshops prove popular

It is often surprising how many people want to ‘put something back’ into the community, but if the popularity of free SFEDI (Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative) accredited mentoring training workshops is anything to go by, the North East community will be benefitting greatly in future from the skills and knowledge of the many experienced people who are currently qualifying as trained Volunteer Business Mentors.

NBSL has been hosting the free half day ‘Introduction to Enterprise Mentoring’ training sessions at their Hexham Business Advice Centre since the New Year. Delivered by Victoria Moodie of CDC (CDC Enterprise Agency based in County Durham) the sessions cover the background to mentoring (what it is, and crucially what it is not); the role of the mentor; types of mentoring relationship; key skills of a mentor and the boundaries of the mentoring role.

The interactive sessions (which also involve the trainee mentors working in small groups to consider ‘real life’ case studies) have proved thought provoking and instructive in defining the differences between counselling, coaching, advising and mentoring.

Trainee mentors complete a short multiple choice questionnaire at the end of the session and successful completion of this leads to them being issued with an online SFEDI Certificate of Recognition. Mentors are then enrolled in the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE) and are required to provide 24 hours of voluntary mentoring over a two year period.

For more information about NBSL and how we can support businesses to start and grow, contact us on 01670 813322 or visit our website at www.nbsl.org.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Phil Langton .