1:1 Leisure Mentoring for Elementary School Children in Reinickendorf for more Educational Equity

Would you like to help promote educational equity and active participation in Berlin by supporting a child, adding some variety to your daily routine, or simply seeing things from a child’s perspective again? — Then we’re looking for YOU as a mentor.

We’re looking for YOU if you’d like to accompany and support a mentee once a week. The kids have a variety of support needs and are already waiting for the right mentor. They’ve either just arrived in Berlin or were born here; they’re curious and motivated to discover new things and get out of their own neighborhood for a change. By participating in the project, you’ll have the opportunity to mentor an elementary school child aged 8–12 from Reinickendorf for eight months and, in doing so, help them develop their interests.

Through the mentoring program, we reach children who are particularly receptive to recreational activities, as they are familiar with few places and activities beyond their immediate surroundings. There are many reasons for this: both parents working, single-parent families, financial constraints, parents with limited knowledge of the area and/or language, and children with refugee backgrounds. You’ll receive thorough preparation for your role as a mentor and gain valuable insights through training sessions and workshops. In addition, we offer group meetings for mentors to exchange ideas and exciting group events for the mentor-mentee pairs. Each pair also receives a small activity allowance to help fund the occasional outing.

As a mentor you accompany a child between 8-12 years with and without a refugee background over a period of 8 months in Reinickendorf. During your weekly 1:1 meetings you will spend your free time together, get to know Berlin and try out new activities. We will prepare you for this task in training sessions and you can also exchange ideas with other volunteers at regular mentor meetings. We also regularly organize various exciting group activities to which we invite all tandems.

You should have fun and enjoy working with children, be open to new ways of life and different activities, and have three to four hours a week to spare. In addition, we need a certificate of good conduct. You can, if available, already bring your certificate of good conduct, but you will also get a form from us.

We’ll need your support for 8 months. After that, you can decide whether you’d like to continue working with us as a mentor. 

Before the mentoring program begins, we’ll meet for an in-depth introductory session. If both parties decide to move forward, an introductory workshop for mentors will follow. We start twice a year, at the end of May and the end of November. The introductory sessions take place in the two months leading up to each start date.

Here you can find some great mentoring stories from the mentors' perspective as inspiration. We look forward to your application. We will then send you a selection of dates for your personal meeting at our office at Fehmarner Straße 12, 13353 Berlin. If you have any questions, you can always contact us here via vostel or by email at info@kein-abseits.de.