A charity is searching for volunteers to help turn today's disadvantaged people into tomorrow's successes.

Hastings-based Tomorrow's People helps the long-term unemployed or homeless find jobs.

It offers advice on interview techniques and preparing CVs as well as providing basic literacy and numeracy training. It arranges work experience and provides mentors with industry knowledge.

Helena Walters, mentoring adviser at the Brighton office, said: "Anyone can be a mentor.

"We've had a football coach from Brighton and Hove Albion, a mechanic, lots of musicians and artists, IT specialists - American Express have been very helpful - and even someone who had their own circus, who came in to talk about performance.

"The youngest mentor is a 23-year-old security guard and the oldest is 73.

"We're always searching for new mentors and, in particular, we're looking for people who work in the media, which is an area lots of people are interested in."

Eva Garcia, 25, is a lawyer from Marbella, Spain, who moved to Brighton and Hove seven months ago to study English and learn about UK culture and the differences between the English and Spanish legal systems.

She has been looking for work in property law and turned to Tomorrow's People to find out how she could use her skills to find a job.

She said: "Although I have always been interested in England, I really needed some support to help me understand the country."

She meets her supervisor most days to discuss her CV, her language skills and how best to use her skills.

Helena said: "She has needed help to settle in. It's not easy when you've moved away from your family and friends.

"Even for the most intelligent people there are are challenges - something as simple as filling out a form can be very difficult when you don't understand what it means.

"Other people need help with general problems, such as improving their housing situation."

Chris Hockney, 23, from Brighton, wants to be a journalist and has been referred to Tomorrow's People as part of the New Deal scheme.

The charity has put him in touch with a reporter from The Argus, Krista Beighton, so he can find out what it's like to be a journalist.

Chris, who studied English at university, said: "It's great to talk to someone with inside knowledge.

"I've always had aspirations to be a journalist but I didn't know where to start.

"It's great dealing with people who respond constructively to what you've got to say.

"I've also been able to use the charity's facilities, such as the internet, and it has said I can come back even when the referral is over."

Helena said: "Getting the 'inside track' is essential.

"We need mentors who are actually doing a job and can talk confidentially about what's involved.

"Things are always changing and only the people on the ground actually know what's really happening.

"We had one guy who wanted to be a runner for a post-production company.

"He put together a fantastic CV detailing lots of qualifications and they said, 'That's great but we don't have time to read it'.

They suggested he put together a postcard with his picture and name on.

"That's the sort of thing we wouldn't know. It's the sort of information that could really help someone to market themself in a particular industry."

A commitment to mentor could involve as little as one meeting every three months or as much as a meeting every week for six months.

She said: "We understand people have limited time so we try not to use the same people all the time. Mentoring can also benefit the mentor."

Mary Baldock, who started mentoring last September, said: "It's a good thing for me personally.

"I can put it on my CV and it's both relatively easy and very rewarding when someone you have been helping gets a break."

Mary, whose background is in teaching English as a foreign language overseas, has provided general mentoring for three people and vocational mentoring for someone who wanted to teach English in Poland.

She said: "I did a mentoring course a few months ago after realising there were lots of people out there who didn't have any support.

"I make a modest contribution. But we've all got life skills and it's good to share them."

For more details, call Tomorrow's People on 01273 722111.

www.tomorrows-people.co.uk
Tuesday March 18 2003