Youth Mentor
Full-time & part-time posts Term time only
South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset
Closing date: Sunday 1 November 2026, 11.59pm
Whether your background is in sport, the arts, youth work or something else entirely, what matters most is a real interest in young people. If young people trust you, and you have the patience to earn that trust slowly, we’d like to hear from you.
About Switch Mentoring
Switch Mentoring is the mentoring arm of Switch Rugby Ltd, a small Bristol company of about eight people. Schools refer young people to us for one-to-one mentoring, and sometimes for work in pairs or small groups. Sessions take place on the school site or off site at sports, outdoor and cultural venues. Some of the young people we work with are not currently attending school.
Our mentors come from all walks of life. Sport and physical activity are a big part of how we connect with young people, alongside music, art, the outdoors, conversation and turning up consistently. We are building a team with a wide mix of skills, so we can match each young person with what works for them. What unites the team is the belief that every young person deserves an adult who sees them.
The Role
We are recruiting one full-time and several part-time Youth Mentors to work with young people aged roughly 8 to 18 in schools across South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES).
Many of the young people we support have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), are neurodivergent, or have social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. Some have had difficult experiences that make it hard for them to trust adults. Your job is to be a consistent, safe and positive adult in their week, and to help them build confidence, resilience and direction.
Key Details
| Posts | 1 × full-time: 30 hours a week, Monday to Friday Part-time: 18 hours a week, spread across the week to suit you and our schools |
| Working pattern | Term time only (39 weeks a year), during the school day, Monday to Friday. We are flexible about which days you work. |
| Pay | £14.00 – £15.00 per hour, depending on experience (the top of the range is for SEND, SEMH or specialist experience) Full-time (30 hours a week, term time only): £18,360 – £19,670 a year, including holiday pay Part-time (18 hours a week, term time only): £11,010 – £11,800 a year, including holiday pay Plus employer contributions to the Nest workplace pension |
| Contract | Permanent, directly employed (PAYE), with a six-month probation period |
| Where | Schools and venues across South Gloucestershire and B&NES. You will need to live within easy reach of the area, for example Kingswood, Yate, Keynsham, Bath or Midsomer Norton. |
| Travel | Full UK driving licence and your own car, insured for business use. You will drive young people to and from off-site sessions. We pay mileage at 50p a mile for work journeys, and we cover the extra cost of adding business use to your car insurance. |
| Reports to | Matt Sheppard, Director and Designated Safeguarding Lead |
| Start date | From Monday 30 November 2026 if you are available, with induction and shadowing before Christmas; otherwise January 2027. Every start is subject to completed pre-employment checks. |
What You’ll Do
- Plan and deliver one-to-one and small-group mentoring sessions in school and off site, using activities that suit each young person: sport, creative work, music, the outdoors or simply talking.
- Build trusting relationships with clear professional boundaries with young people, their families and school staff.
- Collect and return young people safely for off-site sessions, following our check-in and transport procedures.
- Adapt your approach for young people with SEND, neurodivergence, or social, emotional and mental health needs, working with the school’s SENCo and pastoral staff.
- Write a short Session Log after every session and share it securely with the school.
- Follow our safeguarding procedures and report any concern the same day.
- Take part in team meetings, supervision and ongoing training.
Who We’re Looking For
You don’t need a degree or any particular qualification. We welcome people from sport and coaching, youth work, teaching support, social care, the arts, music, outdoor learning and the community, and people who are new to the work but clearly good with young people. If you meet the essential criteria, please apply even if you don’t tick every desirable box.
How we assess each point: A = application form, I = interview, R = references.
Essential
| Essential | Assessed by |
|---|---|
| Experience of working with or supporting children or young people, paid or voluntary | A, I, R |
| Able to build trust with young people who find adults hard to trust, while keeping clear professional boundaries | A, I, R |
| Calm, patient and consistent, including when young people are distressed or their behaviour is challenging | A, I, R |
| Understands safeguarding and knows how to respond to a concern or a disclosure | I |
| Good enough written English to keep clear, accurate session records | A, I (short written task) |
| Full UK driving licence and own vehicle that you can insure for business use | A |
| Able to work during school hours across South Gloucestershire and B&NES | A, I |
| Committed to safeguarding, and suitable to work with children (see “How we recruit safely”) | A, I, R |
Desirable
| Desirable | Assessed by |
|---|---|
| Experience supporting young people with SEND or neurodivergence, for example autism, ADHD or an EHCP | A, I |
| Experience with SEMH, trauma-informed practice, or young people who are out of school or at risk of exclusion | A, I |
| A skill or interest you can share in sessions, for example sport and physical activity, creative arts, music or the outdoors | A, I |
| Experience running holiday camps, activity programmes or holiday clubs | A, I |
| Relevant training, for example Youth Mental Health First Aid, trauma-informed practice, or a youth work, teaching assistant or learning mentor qualification | A |
| A current first aid certificate (or willing to gain one) | A |
| GCSE English and maths at grade 4/C or above, or equivalent | A |
| Lived experience that helps you relate to the young people we work with | A, I |
Holiday Work and Developing Your Own Ideas
These are term-time-only posts, so there is no expectation that you work in the school holidays. But Switch already runs holiday camps and programmes, and we want to grow what we offer young people outside term time.
If you have experience or ideas, for example holiday clubs, arts or music workshops, outdoor and activity days or sports camps, tell us in your application. We will work with you to turn good ideas into optional, paid holiday work. That means:
- time with the Director to shape and plan your idea
- help to pilot it with young people we already work with
- Switch’s bookings, insurance and safeguarding arrangements behind it
- support with any training or qualifications the activity needs
- holiday work is entirely optional, and it will never affect your term-time role.
What We Offer
- Term-time working, with the school holidays free unless you choose to take on holiday work
- Paid holiday, and a workplace pension (Nest) with employer contributions of 3% of qualifying earnings
- Mileage paid at 50p a mile for work journeys, and the extra cost of business-use car insurance covered
- Branded Switch workwear
- Support to develop your own holiday activities into paid work, if you want to
- A full induction, including safeguarding and Prevent training and shadowing an experienced mentor before you work alone
- Regular supervision, team meetings and ongoing training
- A small, supportive team where your background and skills are valued
How We Recruit Safely
Switch is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and expects all staff to share this commitment.
This post involves regulated activity with children. It is subject to an enhanced DBS check with children’s barred list information, two references, an online search and the other checks listed below. It is an offence to apply for this role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.
- We only accept our application form, not CVs, so every applicant is considered on the same criteria. Forms with gaps in employment history will not be shortlisted.
- We take up references before interview wherever possible, directly from your referees.
- If you are shortlisted, we will ask you to complete a self-disclosure form and we will carry out an online search of publicly available information about you.
- Interviews are face to face, with a panel of two. They include questions about safeguarding and working with young people, and a short written task.
- Any offer depends on: an enhanced DBS check with children’s barred list information; satisfactory references; proof of identity and right to work in the UK; original qualification certificates; overseas checks where relevant; and your driving documents, including business-use insurance.
- This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Having a criminal record will not necessarily stop you from being appointed. Anything you disclose will be discussed with you openly and considered only in relation to the role.
Our Safeguarding Policy and Safer Recruitment Policy, which includes our statement on the recruitment of ex-offenders, come with this pack.
How to Apply
Complete the Switch application form and email it to admin@switchrugby.com by 11.59pm on Sunday 1 November 2026. Please say whether you are applying for full-time or part-time work, which days you could do, and your earliest start date. We read applications as they arrive, so it helps to apply early, but every application received by the closing date is considered equally. For an informal chat about the role first, call Matt Sheppard on 0117 233 7513 or email matt@switchrugby.com.
Using AI and writing tools: You are welcome to use spelling, grammar or accessibility tools, including AI, to help you write your application. But the examples you give must be your own real experiences, in your own words. We will ask you about them in detail at interview, and we may ask your referees about them too.
Key Dates
| Closing date | Sunday 1 November 2026, 11.59pm |
| Shortlisting | By Tuesday 3 November 2026. We will contact every applicant. |
| Interviews | Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 November 2026, including a short written task |
| Start | From Monday 30 November 2026, or January 2027, once checks are complete |
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Equal Opportunities
We want our team to reflect the young people and communities we work with. We welcome applications from everyone, whatever their background, and particularly encourage applications from women and from people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, who are currently under-represented in our mentoring team. All appointments are made on merit. We are a Disability Confident Committed employer, and we offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role. If you need any adjustments to the application or interview process, please let us know.