HEALTH & WELLBEING
The Conduit interview Faye Dimdore, Learning Associate at
Rendezvous’ Learning Project for Young People in Yeovil tells us how things are going since
The Rendezvous started last April - it’s been so successful they are recruiting more volunteer maths and English Tutors. At The Rendezvous youth services charity, we are celebrating a great start to the year, thanks to Somerset Community Foundation who have confirmed they will support our Yeovil learning project by part funding it for the year.
West Hendford (the home of Yeovil Samaritans). Since starting last April the project has built to 12 learners and 10 tutors. The sessions are proving so popular that Rendezvous is recruiting more volunteers for Yeovil in order to increase capacity.
The project matches young people aged 16-25 who haven’t got any maths or English qualifications with a volunteer tutor to work oneto-one to achieve a level 2 qualification in maths or English.
You don’t have to be a teacher. Our volunteers are all ages and backgrounds – and are tutoring students for a Pearson’s Functional Skills qualification which is practical, applied maths and English.
Our CEO Helen Da Silva Wood is very happy! ‘Somerset Community Foundation helped us launch our Yeovil learning hub during the pandemic. We are delighted they have chosen to continue their support. It means we can keep helping more young people get the qualifications they need to get to college, start apprenticeships and apply for jobs, knowing they can achieve what they want.’ Our Yeovil learning sessions take place on a Tuesday morning at Morley House,
Jackie started tutoring with us in April. She tells us a bit about herself and what it’s been like for her: ‘Having qualified as a doctor when I was younger, I stopped working in medicine to look after my children and instead turned to my creative side and became an artist. Although, I love painting, it didn’t fulfil my need to work with other people and give back to society, so over the years I have done a fair bit of volunteering. ‘I heard about the Rendezvous youth services charity years
Photo by Len Copland ago. I always thought it sounded like a brilliant and worthwhile organisation. I was telling a friend about it recently and it dawned on me that maybe now was the time to get involved. ‘I get a lot of satisfaction from tutoring. Seeing my tutees progress from not understanding something to ‘getting it’ gives me a buzz. I enjoy getting to know them and seeing their personalities emerge as their confidence grows. I see my role as not only facilitating their progress in maths, so that they might be able to access more life opportunities with a qualification, but also helping them to value education and how important it can be to moving forwards. I hope that with kindness and positive feedback, they will grow in confidence and have a good experience of working with a trusted adult. ‘I hope that I have helped them improve their functional maths abilities, showing how maths can be useful in everyday life situations. I like to think that I might have made a difference raising their aspirations and building their confidence.
experience, so far. I get deep satisfaction from the tutoring, but also really enjoy being part of the Rendezvous team. Faye and Julie, Rendezvous’ learning manager, have made me feel really welcome and valued at Yeovil. The learning setting is a lovely space and the other tutors have all been extremely friendly. ‘I have had a sense of fulfilment, which I was lacking before, knowing that I have helped improve someone’s education. And I have a sense of pride in being part of an organisation which operates with integrity and worthwhile ambitions.’ If you’d like to find out more about tutoring a young person one-to-one in maths or English, we would love to hear from you. You can email me, Faye Dimdore, on Learning@therendezvous.org. uk for an application pack and to arrange an informal chat before applying. All successful applicants are interviewed and undergo a DBS check, safeguarding training and attend an induction. Visit www.therendezvous. org.uk/be-a-tutor for more information.
‘It has been a wonderful
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