Mentorship
A story can start a conversation. A mentor can finish it.
A book tells a child it is possible. A person proves it.
Mentorship is where I Can See Me stops being a publishing project. A fifteen-year-old who is deciding whether to sit her exams needs to meet a woman with albinism who sat hers, and who will tell her honestly what was hard about it.
How it starts
The pathway
A young person is referred, by a school, a parent, a county champion, or themselves. There is no application form and no eligibility test.
We match them with a mentor with albinism working in or near the field they are curious about, and close enough geographically to meet in person at least sometimes.
They meet. Frequency and format, confirm. The first few conversations are usually not about careers at all.
We stay in the background, safeguarding, check-ins, and practical support if travel or airtime is the thing standing in the way.
For the next generation
If you are young and you are reading this
You do not need to know what you want to do. You do not need good grades to qualify. You need to be willing to have a conversation with someone who has already been where you are standing.
Ask for a mentorFor mentors
If you have already made it through
You do not need to be famous, wealthy or an expert in anything. You need to be a few steps further down a road someone else is starting on, and willing to say what it was really like.
Volunteer as a mentorHow we facilitate it
Safeguarding is not paperwork.
Any programme pairing adults with young people carries risk, and pretending otherwise is how harm happens. Our commitments, plainly:
- Mentors are screened and referenced before any pairing
- Parents or guardians consent to every pairing involving a minor
- First meetings happen in a public or supervised setting
- A named safeguarding contact is available to both parties
- Concerns can be raised confidentially and are acted on
Publish the full safeguarding policy and the named safeguarding lead