Sunderland education startup delivers first mentoring programme

Sunderland-based startup Mentoring Professional Ltd has delivered its first professional mentoring session directly into the classroom.

Launched at the University of Sunderland’s Enterprise Place by academic Philip King, the company currently employs up to 50 industry professionals, who, having completed training provided by the company’s training team are able to deliver workshops directly to pupils.

Mentoring Professional Ltd intends to encourage 11 to 16 year-olds to raise their aspirations and explore further education and training in an effort to increase their opportunities, and broadening the country’s future skilled workforce.

The company completed its first contract with High Tunstall College of Science in Hartlepool.

At Hartlepool a total of 52 pupils completed three workshops in Leadership and Change, Public Health and Civil Engineering.

Philip King, Mentoring Professional managing director, said: “It was great to engage these young people and leave a lasting impression.

“There are very tangible and applicable messages behind all of the sessions that we deliver. It’s always about giving the students real life examples from experienced professionals currently working in industry.

“Any of the professionals who go into the classroom are increasing motivation and attainment for young people by providing awareness about professional opportunities.

“The communication of transferable skills enables learners to link academic subjects to professional application, promoting retention by bridging the gap between theory and practice.”

“I’ve had the idea for Mentoring Professional for quite a while and it seemed like the ideal time to launch the company after spotting a bulletin about the Enterprise Place being able to support current students and staff,” explained Phil, who is an academic tutor in the University of Sunderland’s Faculty of Applied Sciences.

“It’s an incredibly supportive environment, if you do have any queries, there’s a support team who you can approach.

“It’s also a really innovative environment, a lot of knowledge sharing goes on and you can network with like minded entrepreneurial individuals.

“Several of our Mentoring Professional tutors have actually been recruited from the Enterprise Place, because they are professionals within their industry.”

Vince Robson, business development manager at the University, said: “The delivery of this first session is a key milestone for Mentoring Professional. Phil has worked tirelessly to turn his vision into reality.

“We are confident that this will be the first of many sessions that the company delivers and look forward to seeing how the business grows.”

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