Roles and responsibilities of the Icehearts Europe mentor

The Icehearts Europe mentor is a qualified and specially trained person who guides and supports children/adolescents in his or her team. He or she is a facilitator of various activities, including sports and other recreational activities, and a reliable reference adult to whom the child and his or her parents/guardians can turn for help, discuss problems, and seek solutions. 

The relationship established between the mentor and the child is fundamental to the approach: a relationship of reciprocity, empathy and trust that spans the different stages of the child’s growth and development.

From the beginning of the project we have mapped the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) regarding the Icehearts Mentor. Below we are providing you with answers to these questions. In addition, it is our commitment to continue editing this list throughout the project.

Insights: How to find and recruit mentors

The grassroots sport organisation:

• recruits the mentor, who has defined requirements in terms of training, education, and personal skills
• provides him/her with an ad hoc training program that also includes information on the local context and the relevant regulatory framework
• involves him/her in all phases of the implementation
• defines the code of conduct, i.e., the behaviour and procedures to be followed to protect the children who are in the team
• gives the mentor adequate remuneration for his/her activity within Icehearts Europe.

What makes the work of Icehearts unique and effective is the mentors’ commitment to long-term support for the children involved. Each Icehearts Europe mentor is dedicated to a team of no more than 20 children who should be mentored as long as possible. In Finland, the same full-time mentor supports the children for a period of up to 12 years, from 6 to 18 years of age.

Identifying the right mentors for implementing your Icehearts Europe adaptation will be one success factor and we are aware this might not be an easy task. Some pilot implementers even mentioned it feels like “searching for unicorns”.  To help you move forward in this process, we have collected insights and tips from pilot countries: