Information for Schools
Who are EMP?
EMP is a national mentoring and education charity, rooted in local communities. Working in under-resourced areas, we support young people to grow in character and confidence, sparking change in themselves and society. Our volunteer mentors are at the heart of everything we do.
If you’d like to help a young person develop their character and confidence, you’ve come to the right place!
As a volunteer mentor, you’ll be supporting young people in your local community, helping them grow in character and confidence, all while developing your own skills and experience.
- You'll give two hours a week during term time to come to a EMP project in your area.
- Our mentors are paired with a young person that they work with each week over the course of the school year.
- You'll spend time with them each week, talking with them, supporting them on basic maths and English activities as well as working with them as part of character-building group activities.
- You'll be supported every week by our Project Leaders and the EMP team.
The Impact of Mentoring
The difference you'll make
At EMP, we work with amazing young people who need some additional support to reach and be confident in their potential.
By becoming a volunteer mentor, you’ll be providing an additional role model to a brilliant young person, helping them to grow in confidence and character over the course of the year.
Every year, we see the enormous impact that mentoring has on the young people we work with. Take a look at our video to hear from the young people themselves about what it means to them.
86% of mentors said they saw increased confidence in their Mentees.
85% of mentees said they improved on their character strengths of Good Judgement, Self Control, Fairness, and Staying Power.
“My mentor helped me a lot because when I tried to say something I couldn’t express it, but he told me that I could try and keep trying, even if I get it wrong, so that I can express myself better.”
Yao, EMP Mentee
What you'll gain
Mentoring doesn’t just impact the young people who take part in our projects – it has a hugely beneficial impact on our mentors as well.
- See a long-term impact by dedicating just two hours per week to your mentee for at least one academic year.
- Volunteer alongside like-minded people and have the opportunity to form lifelong friendships.
- Feel part of your community by making a difference in your local area.
- Develop your skills. Former mentors have told us that volunteering really helped to build their confidence, communication, and team working abilities.
- Come away with scenarios and situations where you will have used your commitment and resilience, which can be perfect for bringing up in job applications and interviews.
What do our mentoring projects look like?
Our different projects
We run three types of projects – EMP Club which takes place in primary schools with young people aged 9-11; EMP Academy which takes place in high schools with young people aged 11-16 and EMP+ a programme that works with EMP alumni aged 16-19, helping them with the transition from school to whatever comes next.
Find out more about the work we do in each project:
Where can I mentor?
We run mentoring projects across the Country(Ghana). The majority of our projects across all regions are in-person, but some projects take place online via Zoom. All our mentoring locations are in close proximity to public transport, so you'll be able to travel to and from them easily.