In celebration of Volunteers' Week 2019, we asked one of our Lucky Break volunteer mentors, Angelo Harrison, to tell us about his volunteering experience. Angelo started volunteering on our Careers and Enterprise Company funded project ‘Captain of My Ship’ in January 2018. He has now mentored six young people aged 13 to 15.  

Angelo with two of his mentees from John Bentley School in Wiltshire

"The whole experience has enriched my life considerably, not to mention also making me a more considerate parent – I am sure of that. It is such a joy working with these young people, seeing how bright their futures are, how much potential they have and to be there at such an important time in their development with a great package such as Adviza has put together. I have said to my mentees on a number of occasions that signing up for the programme has been a really smart thing to do.

One never forgets the experience of waiting in a corridor along with other hopefuls waiting to be interviewed for the same job. It is great to know our mentees will be so much better prepared and have an ‘edge’ they can be confident of.

I am not a particularly proud person, tending to play down my achievements, however this is one experience I am proud of and again thanks to Adviza's programme it is clear to see the progress mentees have been making in their personal development.

There is also something special I have learnt about volunteering as opposed to a salaried position and it is fair to say that I tend to go up in peoples estimation at work once they hear about where I am going each week and why! Not something I went into this business for but an unexpected and delightful consequence."

Lucky Break Project Manager, Jan Champney, says..

"Angelo has helped each of the young people he has mentored to improve their resilience, confidence and maturity. As with all of our mentors, he has dedicated many hours to the project for which we at Adviza are truly grateful. Without these volunteers the project would not have been such a success and the young people would not have gained so much."