Leanne’s making a positive impact
Mum calls for more volunteers
A mental health nursing student from Dollar is urging others to follow her lead in becoming a social care volunteer.
Mum–of–two Leanne Patrick is a volunteer mentor for social care charity Quarriers in Forth Valley and is calling on like–minded people to follow her example.
The 30 year old takes an interest in childhood and adolescent mental health and through her nursing training she has been exploring how to develop resilience in individuals who have had a difficult start in life.
Explaining what attracted her to volunteer as a mentor, Leanne said: “It was the perfect way to put what I was learning through my studies into practice. I believe that a good mentor is a key component to building confidence and self-esteem and this struck me as an opportunity to make a genuine difference to the life of a young person.”
Mentors are matched with individuals with similar interests, helping to form a strong bond from the very first meeting.
Leanne added: “A lot of what the role involves is supporting the goals of the young person, so my focus has been on helping to make these aims achievable.
“I really hope that I can be a positive role model (for the person I am helping) and that she looks back on this time as something that helped her to believe in herself and be happy with who she is.
“I like to think that I’m a consistent and positive presence in her life, and we are having fun.”
Now Leanne wants to encourage other people to sign up and make a difference.
She said: “I was unsure of what to expect at first, but the training is excellent so I felt well prepared when it came to meeting my prospective mentee.
“You must be prepared to make this person a priority in your life and if you’re able to do that, other than being compassionate and having time and energy to offer to someone, you don’t need to be a specific sort of person for the role.”
The charity introduced the programme earlier this year, calling on people to volunteer as mentors for vulnerable children across Stirling