Across our member network, Circle Square represents a wide range of professional backgrounds including: entrepreneurs, doctors, writers, partners in professional services firms, journalists, property developers, academics, bankers, psychologists, corporate executives and CEOs, charity trustees, musicians, teachers, film producers and more. This gives us unrivalled access to a range of mentors across different sectors. Members have opportunities to become mentors and mentees in a variety of different ways:

Being part of the Circle Square network opens up peer mentoring with fellow members. We often draw on our community to advise on career transition as part of our Planning Your Next Chapter programme. We match mentors and mentees on an individual basis, carefully assessing each mentor relationship to ensure the right fit.

We also work with several external mentoring partners to offer members broader mentoring opportunities supporting start-ups, small businesses, charities and young people.

It’s never been more challenging to start or run a small business or charity. But just one conversation with an expert mentor can empower an entrepreneur to overcome their frustrations and grow. Through our partnership with Digital Boost, we offer members a chance to share their skills to help a new generation of founders unlock their challenges and achieve their business goals. This flexible arrangement requires you to commit just one hour at a time and it takes just 5 minutes to set up your mentor profile via our dedicated onboarding page here. Volunteer as a business mentor today and lend a helping hand to the organisations that need it most.

The Kilfinan Group is a group of senior business people who provide free and informal mentoring to charity chief executives. The Group was founded by Nicholas Ferguson CBE, Chairman of Savills plc, in 2003. It now has around 200 members and mentors charities of all sizes across the UK. The Group is deliberately informal; they avoid bureaucracy and each mentor/mentee relationship is different. Once matched, mentors and mentees are free to structure their relationship to fit their needs and styles. Mentors are welcomed from diverse backgrounds and all business sectors with extensive leadership experience – ideally Board level. If you would like to find out more then please visit www.kilfinangroup.org and to request an introduction please email us at info@sharecirclesquare.com.

Grandmentors is an innovative project harnessing the energy, skills, and experience of 50+ to support young people as they navigate life after care. Grandmentors come from a wide range of backgrounds and all walks of life, enabling them to understand and meet the varying needs of mentees. You are given training and support to forge positive relationships that empower mentees to unlock their own skills and shape their own futures. The goal is to provide consistency and stability to young people meaning relationships can last anywhere up to a year, or longer in some cases. Regular meetings are important (usually weekly or fortnightly) and your guidance will help them work towards goals such as budgeting, helping with college/university applications, healthy eating, exercise or expanding horizons. You need patience, a non-judgemental attitude,  sense of humour, empathy and community spirit to be a positive role model that will help build ambition and aspiration. For more information please contact Emily Cullen at Emily.cullen@volunteeringmatters.org.uk

To discuss any of these mentoring opportunities available through Circle Square, please contact Teresa, our membership co-ordinator, at teresa.woodley@sharecirclesquare.com