Agemaspark managing director Paul Stockhill is seeing first-hand the benefits of mentoring young people as he works with budding engineers from Doncaster University Technical College.
Paul, who is also vice chair of Doncaster UTC, has been allocated five students to mentor, all of whom have an interest in engineering. The students will be offered work experience at Agemaspark.
It is part of a programme that sees 20 students receiving mentoring from four industry mentors.
Paul said: “I’ve had my first session with the students and got so much from it. It’s a great idea for businesses to get involved in mentoring young people because both sides can really benefit from the experience.
“The idea of the Doncaster UTC programme is to introduce students to an individual to help them focus on their career ambitions. The hope is that the students will engage with a business mentor and open up in a one-to-one setting to talk about their futures.
“We discussed what they would like to do as a career and what kind of education results they think they will need to achieve. I also asked if they have any problems with the subjects they are studying and what help they need. I talked about the fact that university is not for everyone and that they can reach the places they want to get to by studying an apprenticeship.
“We also spoke about Agemaspark and the things we do here. It was great to see the enthusiasm of the students and how many questions they had about all sorts of aspects of the business.
“I’m really enjoying the mentoring experience and would definitely recommend it to any other business. It’s an invaluable opportunity to nurture the next generation and at the same time learn something about yourself.”
