The mentoring program has been an exciting journey for me. It has exposed me to different kinds of challenges and opportunities for me to learn and develop myself personally and professionally.

There are so many transferable skills that I have gained and being able to work with my mentee with ADHD has allowed me to build upon these skills, whilst continuing to give my best in supporting my mentee in navigating the challenges they face.

Because of the unique position we have as mentors, our relationship with our mentees are quite flexible. In achieving the goals and objectives set out at the start of the mentoring journey, it allows us to use personalised approached in navigating our relationship by drawing upon our personal experience and knowledge, allowing us to communicate with our mentee on a more personal level. They could learn from our experiences and make the appropriate decisions from there. That in itself is life-changing as we get to empower and equip them with the right information for them to take the next steps. And because we get to explore other fun activities like playing games, we get to have fun too! My mentee has a PS3 and Switch, and we would occasionally play them together.

My mentoring journey has been an exciting one, I learnt so much from it, and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a unique experience to gain more skills and experience in this area.

You can find out more information on how to join the CAMHS Mentoring Project and other volunteering schemes the South London and Maudsley Trust has to offer: https://slam.nhs.uk/camhs-mentoring-project.