Mentoring was “better than I thought it would be” in fact “just about perfect. It was nice to have a friend, someone to talk to. We had lots in common and have become good friends” “When you're really down, with no one to turn to, it’s really good"

A recently divorced grandparent raising her teenage grandson, Maree was referred to FP by a community agency. She was finding parenting quite demanding, hard to deal with on her own and was feeling tired, depressed and isolated. Maree wasn’t sure what to expect from mentoring or whether it was really going to help but after some encouragement decided to give it a try. 

At the first meeting with her mentor they discovered they had a lot in common;

Both were grandmothers raising 15 year old grandsons.
Neither drove but they live 5-10 minutes walk from each other.
They both love their dogs and enjoy walking them around the local Domain.
Getting involved in a voluntary community activity was one of Maree’s goals and the mentor helped out at the local Community Centre.
The mentor knew members of Maree’s wider family from past involvement with them in the same church group.
The mentor could empathise as she also had many years where she felt isolated.

They met weekly for coffee and a chat and enjoyed browsing around the shops together. The mentor said she saw their relationship as reciprocal. It gave her a friend to do things with and she felt she was able to listen well without giving advice. Maree no longer needs a mentor but would recommend mentoring to others. She and her mentor remain good friends. 

Maree*’s story (*name changed by request)