1800 424 065 
Fiona and Jack talk about peer mentoring
Fiona and Jack are helping each other grow and learn new skills under CID’s peer mentoring program. We asked them to tell us about their experience of peer mentoring.
Fiona
I’ve done the peer mentoring course, and in that course I got to choose who I wanted to mentor. I chose Jack because he’s new on the CID board and I’m a board member. I want to help him develop his skills and help him share his story.
It’s about learning new things and working on challenges. It’s about helping someone who might need a bit of guidance.
I’ve gotten to know Jack on a level where he can come and talk to me about things that if we weren’t doing peer mentoring, would have been hard. Because we’re on the board together, I can now see that if something goes wrong I can just let him know that it’s okay that he can take time out.
Being a mentor makes me feel good because it gives me a chance to show Jack that he can do it in the future.
When you are being a peer mentor you need to be able to distance yourself sometimes. You need to set boundaries on what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate. We set good boundaries. We are strictly professional.
Jack
I’ve learnt a little bit more about Fi, and she’s learnt a little bit about me. We’ve gotten to know each other a bit better from all the talking. We’ve built our friendship up a bit more.
It’s also helped on a professional level. The board is not easy work. I have more knowledge now, definitely.
It’s a bit of a challenge catching the train all the way into the city for our meetings, but it’s more than worth it.
I think there’s only been one miscommunication between us, but that was on my end. I missed just about every train that day. So then we had a mental health meeting and talked about mental health and how crazy everything can be at times. Also how serious mental health can be. We worked out that we can talk to each other about how we’re feeling and about each other’s mental health problems and issues.
Fi and I have connected in a way like brother and sister. We’re always professional, and always have a professional manner, but we’re a bit mad at the same time.
About peer mentoring
Fiona and Jack are taking part in CID’s peer mentoring program, to help each other grow and learn new skills. The program supports them to plan for each meeting and reflect on what they have talked about.
Both mentors and mentees benefit from mentoring. They share things they have done, such as being on the CID board, working or general life experiences. Peer mentoring helps them pass their experience on in a structured way.
Find out more
If you want to learn more about peer support, email us at info@cid.org.au or call us on 1800 424 065.
