From the BASS Programme Director, Dr Katie Smith

The BASS Peer Mentors are exceptional people who go out of their way to support, encourage, inform and generally be awesome to their fellow students. This has been recognised this year with two prestigious awards for the group and its members. The BASS Peer Mentors, collectively, have received the ‘Outstanding Collaboration Award’, and BASS Peer Mentor, Sylvia Masters has received the ‘Outstanding Contribution Award’ at the Peer Mentors Awards Ceremony in Whitworth Hall. This is a testament to all their hard work and dedication to their fellow students, their programme and their university.

Taking on the Peer Mentor role is not an easy task, but it is one of the most rewarding. It opens doors and opportunities for our students in diverse and exciting ways. Our Peer Mentors have embraced the opportunities available through being a Peer Mentor. They represent the best and brightest, and I could not be prouder to have had the privilege to watch them flourish on the BASS Programme at Manchester!

Lola Berni

Hi, my name is Lola and I am a Student Coordinator and Peer Mentor for BASS! The highlight of my time at Peer Mentoring would be our Charity Quiz Event for Manchester Settlement. It represented the epitome of what we were trying to achieve for the scheme this year. We brought people from all BASS years together and celebrated a great night for charity, hosted by the whole mentoring team. The community that we cultivated this year made this event possible, and I am proud to have been a part of it. Many of us were inspired to join because of how COVID affected our time at university, from our studies to our ability to socialise. This majorly influenced both second- and third-years on the team as we began our journey into the new environment of university. As well as joining a welcoming community where we could provide support for each other, the BASS Peer Mentor scheme expanded this to students of all years, finishing the year by winning an ‘Outstanding Award for Collaboration’. The BASS Peer Mentor Scheme is definitely one to get involved in. This opportunity has taught me valuable skills to translate into life after university, in the workplace and other volunteering sectors. I could not recommend it enough.

Sylvia Masters

Hi, I’m Sylvia Masters and I am one of the Student Coordinators and Peer Mentors for the BA Social Sciences (BASS) Peer Support Scheme. This discipline-owned and student-led scheme offers pastoral support and academic guidance to first year BASS students to help ease them into university life. My role as a mentor is to ensure that first years have an accessible point of contact with someone who has experienced it all before, sharing my experiences and expertise, signposting students to relevant services, and aiming to create an inclusive and safe space. As a student coordinator, I am also responsible for running my course’s scheme, supporting mentors to then support their mentees.

I am definitely most proud of the sense of community we have managed to establish among our mentors and coordinators this year. It is amazing to work with a team of such motivated and engaged individuals who all want to give back to the course in such a meaningful way. Whilst we have all struggled with mentee engagement at points, the team has remained positive and inspiring throughout. This is evident in our successful planning and running of a quiz and raffle charity fundraiser event for ‘Manchester Settlement’, which raised the charity almost £400. Debrief attendance (of the mentors and coordinators) has remained about 70% and we are hoping to transfer this kind of engagement to our mentees next year, continually building the BASS community.

Working alongside like-minded individuals is extremely fulfilling, and I would encourage all to consider getting involved in the Peer Support Scheme. The experience is more enjoyable and impactful, the more people that get involved.

Remi Lawrence-Warren

Being a peer mentor has been so rewarding, it has allowed me to use my own experience of first year to offer practical advice to those who needed it most. I have been able to broaden my social network by creating relationships with both mentees and my fellow mentors. We also had the opportunity to organise and host a charity event which ended up being a huge success, and I feel that I have been able to learn so much from others by giving them support. The skills that I have gathered are invaluable and will definitely help in my future career.

I have finished the year feeling as though I have accomplished something that is bigger than myself and that is amazing, I couldn’t recommend taking on the role more.

Alora Gregory

Hi! My name is Alora, and I am a final year student on the BASS programme. I was a peer mentor in both my second and third years of study. I had the opportunity to meet some incredible students in my time as a mentor; helping them throughout the initial stages of their degree was truly rewarding. Also, in my final year of study, I mentored international students on their placement years. I really enjoyed connecting with people from around the world, broadening my cultural awareness, and helping with their transition to living in the UK.

Being a peer mentor is an incredible experience, it gives you the opportunity to be a role model and share your experiences with others to hopefully help them avoid the mistakes you made in their position – even if you are not a complete expert! Beyond engaging with the first-year students, being a peer mentor means that you become a part of an incredible community of other peer mentors. This past year, I have been lucky to be surrounded by such a supportive team, we developed a great dynamic and helped each other along the way. We even combined our efforts to organise a successful pub quiz to raise money for a fantastic organisation, Manchester Settlement.

Mitali Shylesh

Being a Peer Mentor this year has enriched my university experience in more ways than I could have imagined. As an international student, moving to University all alone was daunting, and my peer mentors made that transition easier. That’s how I decided it was something I wanted to try.

Through the experience, I strengthened my organisational, time management, communication, and leadership skills. I felt a sense of accomplishment when my mentees would divert any questions regarding university life, their course, assignments, homesickness and all the new aspects that come with the transition to University towards me. Through this experience, I also found some resources and opportunities provided by the University when researching for my mentees that I would have otherwise maybe not noticed.

I found this opportunity allowed me to provide advice tailored to those in my course from my experiences, having been in their position before, advice that I would have appreciated during my first year. If I couldn’t help myself, I would direct my mentees to services within the University or consult with my team of peer mentors, who have been so helpful throughout this journey. Giving and growing are prominent themes in the BASS programme, and this opportunity allowed me to do just that.