Mentoring success for York students

Posted on 19 February 2016

University of York undergraduates have teamed up with pupils from Millthorpe School and York High School for a mentoring project involving Hiscox and Aviva.

The Girl’s Enrichment Mentoring Scheme (GEMS) provides support to girls in Year 10 by linking them with University students and women working in business.

This year, 12 students met school pupils on a weekly basis, culminating in two ‘Women in Business’ days at the Hiscox and Aviva offices in York.

Featuring workshops in teamwork and confidence-building, along with talks from women working in the insurance industry, the days aimed to broaden the career outlook of young women.

Molly McGrellis, a third year Maths undergraduate and volunteer for GEMS, said: “I clearly remember being 15 and not sure of myself and my abilities. I would have loved a scheme like GEMS at school to help demonstrate that the world of work isn’t that scary!”

“The day at Hiscox was a great success. One of the pupils couldn’t believe how much she enjoyed the day and she is now considering insurance as a career – she’s even got some work experience lined up for Easter, and I might even apply for the graduate scheme myself!”

Next week (22 – 28 February) marks National Student Volunteering Week, designed to bring together student volunteers, colleges, Universities, charities, social enterprises and businesses to celebrate and encourage collaboration.

Further information:

This project has been offered as part of the Higher York Network for Collaborative Outreach(HYNCO), a partnership between the University of York, York College, York St John University, Askham Bryan College and Craven College. The partnership works together to provide outreach activities for schools in York, North Yorkshire and parts of East Riding to promote and raise aspirations for higher education. For further information, visit: www.higheryork.org/schools.
For more information about GEMS visit: www.york.ac.uk/careers/ysis and click on the Projects tab. To find out about further volunteering opportunities at the University of York, visit: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/skills/volunteer/
For further information about National Student Volunteering Week, visit: https://www.studentvolunteeringweek.org/