How University of Portsmouth Chartered Manager Degree Apprentice Sam continued her volunteer mentoring during lockdown

Havant Borough Council Executive Assistant Sam started supporting a school pupil in January this year, after responding to a specialist recruitment call from The Girls’ Network.

It aims to inspire and empower girls aged 14-19 from the least-advantaged communities by connecting them to a mentor and a network of professional role models who are women.

Since the lockdown and school closures, The Girls’ Network has now moved most of its programmes online. More than 700 mentor/mentee pairs nationwide have moved online, ensuring that relationships can continue.

Sam’s role involves inspiring and empowering a Portsmouth City schoolgirl and she has enjoyed providing guidance and assistance.

Sam will also have the chance to enhance her Chartered Manager profile and progress her career through her volunteer mentoring.

She said: ‘Since all the schools closed we have no longer been able to meet face-to-face, but it has not been a problem as we have been communicating using other methods.

‘My mentee really likes to text and so I have been able to continue supporting her using our phones and it is working very well. She knows I am still here to support her.’

Sam is studying a three-year BA (Hons) in Business, Leadership and Management (Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship). Degree apprenticeships allow apprentices to work as an employee while they study part-time. They combine academic study from a traditional university degree with practical on-the-job experience and employment skills which apprentices need for a successful career.

Within the Faculty of Business and Law the degree apprenticeship courses offered are BA (Hons) Business Leadership and Management (Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship), BSc (Hons) Project Management (Project Manager Degree Apprenticeship), MBA Strategic Leadership (Senior Leader Degree Apprenticeship) and MSc Risk and Safety Leadership (Risk and Safety Management Professional Degree Apprenticeship).

To find out more information, please email [email protected]

Providing crucial support to businesses

As part of our ongoing COVID-19 support for the local business community, we are creating a new service that will match members in our business network to another organisation to benefit from their expertise.

Business professionals who find they have more time on their hands in this unique situation are encouraged to volunteer their time and expertise to help local businesses.

‘#BusinessTalk friends’ are individuals who have business training, experience or a specific professional qualification (such as accountancy) who are prepared to volunteer to support a business.

If you would like to become a #BusinessTalk friend you can register at uni.port.ac.uk/BT-friend

Join weekly webinars to discuss Covid-19 business-related issues

The Faculty of Business and Law has been supporting business partners and local enterprises during the coronavirus pandemic by delivering weekly webinars to discuss COVID-19 business-related issues.

We’re bringing together academics and industry specialists to answer your questions on topics such as how to manage teams remotely and how to reassure customers you can operate efficiently during this period of upheaval.

Our next #BusinessTalk event is ‘Can process make my business more resilient?’ It will be on Thursday July 2 at 2pm. To sign up and view all our events, please visit www.port.ac.uk/events