Effectively immediately, we are going to be trialling out a new policy for mentors returning to us after a break from the network. In the past, returning mentors were usually subject to the same training regime as new mentors, which was often discouraging. We're still quite unsure about this one - with some good arguments both supporting and refuting the idea. So, we thought the best thing to do was give it a go and see how it pans out. The trial process as follows:

• If a mentor has been "signed off" (via an OTS) to mentor at a particular level, the division will not require them to sit another OTS upon returning to mentoring - once signed off, that's it.
• Upon returning from a period of inactivity (during which mentoring rights are removed), members wishing to mentor must accumulate a total of 20 controlling hours within a three month period on the positions of the Training Group that they wish to mentor in. This averages just under 2 hours a week.
• Once the hour requirement is met, they may request mentoring rights up to the level at which they were last signed off. Mentoring at a different level (e.g. previous APP mentor wishing to do CTR) will go through the usual OTS process.
• Naturally, we will provide links the relevant updated materials (new syllabus etc) to make sure that the mentor has everything they will need.
• Members may still request an OTS once they have met the hour requirement, if they would prefer to have an instructor with them on their first session.

The trial will end at 0001z on 1st September 2018, unless something goes drastically awry. After this date, we will decide if it's something we want to keep.

Why Is This Being Changed?

In the past, a number of prospective returning mentors have been put off by the prospect of having to do another OTS. Sometimes the old system comes across as the division not trusting members who have mentored to a high standard in the past to prepare themselves for the role and executing it appropriately. Naturally, people don't want to give up their time if they don't feel like we trust them to perform their role properly. Furthermore, a single OTS session is unlikely to uncover every single detail about a mentor - so they are a bit hit-and-miss as to their value.

In that sense, we hope that this new approach will allow members who are serious about getting into mentoring again to do so with minimal hindrance. The hour requirement is, in a sense, simply to give the member time to re-familiarise with the latest procedures and get some personal practice in - we trust that most members won't have any issues meeting the requirement. Naturally, it follows that we are trusting returning mentors to take the time to re-familiarise and prepare themselves for mentoring.