Mentors help to make a real difference – Sean and Kieran

By: CHUG Kiran (The Nelson Mail)

Kieran,17, and his Mentor Sean.
Photo: MARTIN DE RUYTER

When Nelson businessman Sean Thomas met Kieran Davidson six years ago, he hoped to be able to help him, but never expected that his friendship with the 11-year-old would have such an impact on his own life.

The pair met through the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring programme, which this week celebrated 10 successful years of matching adults up with young people in Nelson.

Mr Thomas said he had informally mentored younger family members and friends for a number of years before joining the programme.

Looking back, he realised how much of a difference informal mentoring had made to his own life as he was growing up.

Big Brothers Big Sisters matches one adult with one youth, and asks for a one- year commitment from mentors.

Kieran, now 17, said his mother wanted him to join the programme because his father lived overseas and he had little contact with him.

He said he and Mr Thomas met at least once a week, and while they shared a love of computers, they had also built a boat together and “killed a few plants” in their attempts at gardening.

In November 2008, at the Big Brothers Big Sisters Nelson celebratory dinner, Kieran stood up and spoke in front of 120 people. He said Mr Thomas’s mentoring had helped to build that confidence in him, and had made him more social.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do. He’s helped with my vision of who I would like to be and what I can be.”

Kieran, who is looking for a job before starting a mechanics course, hopes to be an aviation engineer.

Mr Thomas, who founded his own business consultancy firm, said a busy lifestyle was no barrier to mentoring.

There had been benefits for him, too.

“Watching (Kieran) over the last six years, it’s been a delight and a nice feeling to know I’ve played some part.”

He said the Big Brothers Big Sisters programme was an overwhelmingly successful scheme for Nelson, and had changed the trajectories of many people’s lives.