I had a lifetime of working in the motor trade. I found the industry very enjoyable but I’ll admit that after a while you realise it’s quite corrupt and people are only around for themselves and how much money they can make. It made me feel quite disillusioned towards the end, so I got out.

I became self-employed and basically helped businesses that were in trouble at the time, get out of trouble. It enabled me to help people professionally.

I’m now retired but after working for an industry that I consider to be selfish and greedy for so many years I wanted to give something back to society. My experience over the years has given me a good understanding of people and some of the issues they face, so I knew I could use this experience to do good. That led me towards mentoring.

I came across Llamau both on the web and through my daughter because her company works with them in a support come fundraising capacity. After going through some assessments and passing Llamau’s mentoring standards, I was paired with a young man named Jordan.

Jordan is a clever young man with lots of potential. He is reasonably mechanically minded and seems to be leaning towards developing his skills within that area. I’ve noticed how much Jordan’s confidence has increased since we first started meeting 15 months ago. He’s come out of his shell a lot since then and always asks to meet with me again the following week. Knowing he wants to continue meeting is very rewarding.

The experiences I’ve had in my life help me to understand Jordan, so if he’s having a bit of a down day, I can relate and offer some advice if I feel he needs it. I just want to be able to contribute something to his life and hopefully make a difference.

We usually meet once a week for a couple of hours. We take a walk around his local area and just chat really. We talk about whether he needs support with anything or advice. I am older than Jordan but the age gap makes no difference to either of us.

I mentor because I feel I have something to offer and lots to talk about. Jordan seems fascinated by the things we discuss and he always wants to meet up the following week. The ball is very much in his court and I work towards his needs and try to help where I can.

I’d tell anyone that I think mentoring is good for the soul and I feel good for doing it. It’s very rewarding.