{"id":14640,"date":"2025-05-22T08:16:46","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T08:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?p=14640"},"modified":"2025-05-22T12:43:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T12:43:31","slug":"a-thriving-mentorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/05\/22\/a-thriving-mentorship\/","title":{"rendered":"A Thriving Mentorship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24px\">Mentors have been supporting University of Reading students for over a decade through the Thrive Mentoring Programme, and we were delighted to celebrate their hard work at two recent events.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Thrive Mentoring Programme is the University of Reading\u2019s award-winning career mentoring scheme, which matches students with alumni for mentoring in their chosen industry.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-14645 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-5-300x187.jpg\" alt=\"A mentor and mentee chatting at celebratory event\" width=\"300\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-5-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-5-768x479.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-5-370x231.jpg 370w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-5-270x168.jpg 270w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-5-570x355.jpg 570w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-5-740x461.jpg 740w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-5.jpg 770w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Several Thrive mentors were nominated for awards at the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/05\/22\/2025-celebration-of-volunteering\/\">Celebration of Volunteering event<\/a>, which brings together members of the University community to recognise the wide range of impactful volunteering our community is involved in.<\/p>\n<p>Following the Celebration of Volunteering, mentors and mentees were brought together for a networking evening on Whiteknights campus. Both groups enjoyed the chance to meet each other in person, with mentors commenting on how useful it was to also meet fellow mentors to share their experiences and ideas for how best to support their mentees. The evening also saw sessions given by University Careers staff to provide mentors and mentees with useful skills and exercises to carry forward in their mentoring partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>Bethan Bourne, Projects Manager for Thrive Mentoring, said: \u201cThis event was all about connection \u2013 responding to what mentors and mentees told us they needed, which was a chance to feel part of a community, share ideas, and be celebrated for their dedication. It was powerful to see that come to life.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The impact of mentoring<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>As part of the Celebration of Volunteering event, Isla Brackenbury, a second year architecture student, shared why she had nominated her mentor, Jennie Ellis, for an award. In the video below Isla speaks about how Jennie has helped her plan her future career, and Jennie shares her experience of being a mentor, including how it has helped her own professional development.<\/p>\n<p>Watch Isla and Jennie\u2019s video:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Hear from Thrive mentor, Jennie Ellis and student Isla Brackenbury\" width=\"770\" height=\"433\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oCnMbct9tGg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Michael Dornan, who graduated with a degree in meteorology in 1996, attended both celebration events with his mentees, Bareerah Chughtai and Jasmine Lo.<\/p>\n<p>Bareerah, a second year computer science student, nominated Michael for Alumni and Supporter Volunteer of the Year at the Celebration of Volunteering, in recognition of the impact his mentoring has had on her.<\/p>\n<p>Bareerah said of Michael\u2019s support: \u201cThis has been a crucial experience for me. He played a pivotal role in helping me secure a placement in Formula 1, which has always been my dream. Michael selflessly shared his time, knowledge, and experience to guide me through every step of the process. His tailored advice helped me excel during the interview and stand out from other candidates. Beyond providing practical tips, he supported me emotionally, instilling confidence when I doubted myself and reminding me of my potential.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite his busy schedule, he made himself available for countless conversations, always patient and genuinely invested in my success.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;He didn&#8217;t just help me with this opportunity but also taught me valuable lessons about perseverance, humility, and personal growth, which will stay with me for life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Michael, who has been mentoring students since 2018, said: \u201cI remember having such a great time at the University in the 1990s, but having got a degree I lacked direction about what to do next and, as the first in my family to go to university, I had no real insight about opportunities in the \u2018real world\u2019. The opportunity to help others through a process that I quite honestly fumbled through was compelling enough for me to sign up.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-14652 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-3-300x187.jpg\" alt=\"At Formula 1\" width=\"300\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-3-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-3-768x479.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-3-370x231.jpg 370w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-3-270x168.jpg 270w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-3-570x355.jpg 570w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-3-740x461.jpg 740w, https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/05\/770-x-480px-3.jpg 770w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\u201cI feel that the role of a mentor is firstly to understand the world through your mentee&#8217;s eyes, so that you have empathy, and then to help them understand the world from the employer&#8217;s perspective. Bareerah was determined to get a placement with an F1 team, and when she was invited to a half-day interview, we sat down and discussed what to expect and how best to prepare. It was great when Bareerah shared with me her positive experiences after the interview, and then a few days later that she&#8217;d got the role.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI feel I learn as much from the students as they do from me, and I get real pleasure when I see them succeed and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Would you like to become a career mentor and support a current student in their career journey? Mentor sign-ups are now open for the upcoming academic year. Sign up by <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/Pages\/ResponsePage.aspx?id=xDv6T_zswEiQgPXkP_kOXwU_pH4ElpVKpcSMtHCAd19UNVZVU0I0QVhTRkM1NERFUkhURTg4SkRDVi4u\">completing this form<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mentors have been supporting University of Reading students for over a decade through the Thrive Mentoring Programme, and we were delighted to celebrate their hard work at two recent events.\u00a0 The Thrive Mentoring Programme is the University of Reading\u2019s award-winning career mentoring scheme, which matches students with alumni for mentoring in their chosen industry. Several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":14643,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[22,34,61,47],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Thriving Mentorship - Connected<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thrive Mentors have been supporting Reading students for over 10 years, and we were delighted to celebrate them at two recent events.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2025\/05\/22\/a-thriving-mentorship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Thriving Mentorship - 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