Business Action on Education

Time to Programmes

An important element of each programme for the children is the regular visit to their volunteer's place of work, where they see the environment they work in and come to understand the job they do; an opportunity to perhaps raise aspirations in the young people and to expand their horizons.

Companies participating in Time to Read, Time 2 Count and Time to Compute have found that there are many benefits for their employees who support the children in the schools, including:

developing confidence, self-esteem and motivation
improving communication skills and relationship management skills
developing coaching and counselling skills

In Time to Read, Time 2 Count and Time to Compute volunteers from 108 companies are currently supporting almost 900 children in 108 primary schools in Northern Ireland. Since the first programme, Time to Read, started in 1999 almost £1m has been provided by companies as a cost in volunteer time and in providing resources to the schools participating in the Time to programmes.

During the next two years Business in the Community NI is taking forward research work to prove objectively and in a very rigorous way the value of these programmes and their impact on outcomes for children. However, subjectively there is little doubt that, through the Time to set of mentoring programmes, companies and businesses in Northern Ireland are making a real and positive difference in the lives of young people.

If you as an employee or as an employer would like to join in "making a difference" and would be interested in finding out more about any of the Time to programmes please see the links on the following pages or contact Graeme McKimm

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