UK Theatre Mentoring Programme

For the mentor, mentoring can: 

• Be a rewarding way to offer insight and experience to others
  
• Give you satisfaction of helping someone else in their career
  
• Connect you new ways of thinking or working and offer a refreshing perspective
• Boost your CV, help you learn new skills and develop your practice
• Develop your coaching and counselling skills
  
• Gain insights into other areas of theatre and performing arts
• Help contribute to the development of a strong, skilled and resilient workforce for our sector

For the mentee, mentoring can:

• Be helpful in dealing with a specific issue
  
• Offer impartial support, advice and guidance from someone experienced in your field
• Give you time to reflect and space to think
• Be a source of encouragement and support for your professional development
  
• Be a way to develop your skills and find new insight on how to achieve your goals
  
• Help you become more resilient, finding new ways to deal with issues.

As a mentor you will:

• Share your experience and expertise within the context of helping the mentee’s learning and development 
  
• Use your judgement to support, encourage and challenge as appropriate 
  
• Offer guidance and support. This could also include practical help such as providing networking opportunities or introductions 
  
• Commit to a defined number of meetings within a finite period 

As a mentee you will:

• Use the opportunity for reflection and growth, ask questions, listen and reflect
  
• Feed back to your mentor about how things are developing for you
  
• Take the initiative in organising meetings
  
• Commit to a defined number of meetings within a finite period
  
• Find opportunities to mentor others

Once we match our mentees with suitable mentors, you can then set a schedule to suit you both in terms of how often you meet, how much contact you have, etc. UK Theatre will contact mentees and mentors at regular points to find out if the mentoring match is proving helpful and to ensure you're both getting the most out of the opportunity.

We have a fantastic group of active mentors already, but the demand from our members continues to grow.

If you would like to become a mentor please fill this registration form. You will need to detail your career history and explain what you can offer as a mentor. 

If you are curious about what is required from mentors or want to know why so many find it such a rewarding experience, do get in touch with us at ukt@soltukt.co.uk or call 020 7557 6700 to find out more.

If you would like to find a mentor and you are a member of UK Theatre, please fill this registration form. You will need to detail your career history and explain what you hope to gain from being mentored. 

To be eligible for the UK Theatre Mentoring Programme, prospective mentees must one of the below:

• A current UK Theatre Professional Member
• A current UK Theatre Professional Plus Member 
• Currently working for a UK Theatre Organisation Member 
• Currently working for a UK Theatre Partner Member

If you are unsure about your membership status, do get in touch. 

Please note, the UK Theatre Mentoring Programme aims to match people working off-stage in theatre in functions such as administration, marketing, finance, production, technical, communications, box office, operations etc. The Programme does not currently support on-stage or creative areas such as directing, writing or performing.

If you have any questions, do get in touch with us at ukt@soltukt.co.uk or call 020 7557 6700 to find out more.

"It was an incredibly rewarding experience to mentor. I got to gain insight into the world of work of someone 10 years younger than me, which fed into my understanding of careers, which helped my own practice and role."

“Mentoring is always an interesting process and makes you re-examine your expectations.”

"[Through mentoring I gained] satisfaction in sharing many decades of practical experience with somebody just starting out."

"I really enjoy mentoring and feel that [we both] gained a lot from it. I think mentoring is a really positive thing to do and has helped me develop professionally."