Horizons Case Study - Phillip
Phillip (not his real name) applied to Horizons for a volunteer mentor in March aged 53. He had been living in the Salvation Army hostel in Bristol, for about a year, having moved to Bristol from Manchester where he had been resident in the Salvation Army hostel there for 11 years.
Phil had suffered an extended period of mental ill health during this time, but when he applied for the project he was feeling on the road to recovery and was hoping to be re-housed in a flat of his own.
By the beginning of April, Phil had moved into his flat and had been matched with a volunteer mentor, Steve. Together they discussed Phil's interests and hopes for the future and Steve helped Phil to explore his now local area in order to settle in to his new environment.
A great many of their meetings were spent talking over cups of coffee and Steve helped Phil to look at things in different ways and to think about where he was going. The meetings continued for 6 months until Steve left the project at the start of October.
At this point, Phil contacted the Project Worker and asked about the possibility of becoming a mentor himself at some point. We recommend that people take a minimum break of 6 months between being in a position of receiving support and one of providing support, so the Project Worker suggested that Phil came along to a few volunteer training sessions, wait six months and re-assess whether he would like to become a mentor.
Phil completed his mentor core training and went on to become a mentor with the project.
If you are interested in becoming a Mentor or you feel that you would benefit from having a Mentor like Phillip did, please look at the Horizons page within the "Our Services" menu.