Teesside hits a hat trick

The University of Teesside has scored a hat trick by winning three awards from the National Mentoring Consortium Ethnic Minority Undergraduate Mentoring Scheme, a programme designed to improve the education and employment prospects for ethnic minority students.

Mentee Rijwant Sangha, 23, from Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-On-Tees studying on the LLB (Hons) degree, Mentor Wendy Ross, employed by the Inland Revenue, and Scheme Co-ordinator Jane Simpson all received their awards at a special ceremony in London.

This national scheme develops high calibre ethnic minority undergraduates for successful job recruitment by providing the opportunity to learn from a Mentor in a work place environment. The Mentor meets regularly with the student Mentee to discuss issues such as interview techniques, time management and career progression to increase the student’s skills, knowledge and confidence and improve their future career progression.

Jane Simpson, University of Teesside Careers Adviser and Co-ordinator of the Ethnic Minority Undergraduate Mentoring Scheme at the University, said: “Both Rijwant and Wendy should be really proud of their achievement, and of course I’m very happy to have won The award for Scheme Co-ordinator of the Year as well.

“For too long, well educated and skilled members of ethnic minorities have been struggling to gain employment or have hit glass ceilings. We firmly believe this scheme will help redress the balance and encourage graduates from ethnic minorities to believe that their achievements will not go unnoticed.”

Rijwant Sangha said: “Taking part in the scheme has been really useful. I was in regular contact with my Mentor Jenny for around 6 months and as well as the arranged meetings, we also spoke on the phone and e-mailed each other regularly. It was very helpful for me because it gave me an insight into the working world and has improved my confidence for when I begin my career. You get out of it what you put into it and I was also really pleased to win the award.”

Wendy Ross said: “My job for the Inland Revenue involves running training sessions but I rarely get to see the results, because after completing the training I move on to the next group. Working with Peter allowed me to actually see the results of our meetings and we’ll keep in touch so I’ll know how useful it has been to him in the work place. When I first volunteered for the scheme, I didn’t know what to expect so I was pleased with both how it has helped Peter and at how rewarding I’ve found the experience.”

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