Life Changer – Bonbeach Mentor Sessions

The Lowe Foundation recently supported the implementation of Life Changer into the Bonbeach community. The first stage of the program included an information session for potential mentors followed by a series of three Mentoring workshops. These workshops recently completed by local community members were Understanding, Connections and Pathway which were held at Bonbeach Football and Netball Club on April 29th, May 6th and May 13th.

Understanding:  explored the LifeChanger mentoring pathway, the importance of mentoring and the psychology of teenagers through their transitional years.  LifeChanger also talked about the challenges our mentors and teens are facing within their community.

Connections: focused on how to build deeper connections with teens in their community by building rapport through body language, body mirroring and open and closed questions. The mentors learnt more about themselves through activities centered around developing self-awareness, as it’s important to be conscious of your own character and feelings before you can mentor others.

Pathway:  enabled the mentors to explore the GROW model with some hands-on role play exercises and discussions. They also practiced rapport building techniques with one another, practicing the good techniques and the not so good ones! Mentors also received a framework for breaking down significant problems into more manageable pieces.

Where to now…. There are opportunities for the Bonbeach Mentors to join the teen workshops in Beaconsfield and Red Hill. Further, LifeChanger are looking at creating pathways into the Teen Workshops within the Bonbeach community.

To find out more, or to get involved visit https://lifechanger.org.au/  or https://www.facebook.com/LifeChangerFoundation/