An Icehearts mentor is a special individual. In parallel with the support children receive at school, they give gentle, reliable guidance to children at risk over a 12-year journey in a peer-to-peer team environment. Through the Icehearts Europe project, and with expert input from the original Icehearts Finland initiative, a step-by-step guide to becoming an Icehearts mentor is now available in English and in five other languages (Danish, Estonian, Italian, Slovenian and Spanish). The training tool is a customised roadmap for using sport and physical activity to improve the wellbeing of disadvantaged children and young people. 

ISCA and the Finnish long-term support programme for vulnerable children and young people, Icehearts Finland, collaborated on the training tool with 10 project partners from countries as part of a Europe-wide expansion of this successful initiative. Backed by an EU4Health Action grant, the Icehearts Europe model and training tool is being tested in five pilot countries: Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Slovenia and Spain.

The main aim of the training is to provide an active learning experience and to guide the user on a journey to become a trained Icehearts Europe mentor. The tool supplements the national training package offered by pilot partners to selected Icehearts Europe mentors.

Start the training now at https://www.icehearts.eu/training-tool 

The Icehearts step-by-step training at a glance

Complete the training to:

• Discover the magic ingredients of the Icehearts Europe model
• Step into your role as an Icehearts Europe mentor with confidence
• Get ready to support disadvantaged children and young people through mentoring
• Build your own Icehearts Europe playbook
• Reflect, connect and give feedback to help improve the learning experience

What will you learn?

By the end of the Icehearts Europe online training for mentors, you will be able to:

• Outline the features of the successful Icehearts Finland model
• Define the characteristics of an optimal mentor-mentee bond
• Outline how the mentor and mentee can build a shared purpose and set goal
• Produce and deliver a shared pilot plan for Icehearts Europe activities.

How to navigate the course

• You will need up to 90 minutes to complete the course.
• To complete the training, open the topics in the order presented on the axis below. At the end of each topic, a small test is waiting for you, which helps to confirm the knowledge you have learned.
• For each of the videos in this training, you can activate subtitles and auto-translation.
• To finish the training, you will need to complete all the stops, take the reflective exercises at the end AND complete a quick feedback form

Find out more about the Icehearts Europe project https://www.icehearts.eu/

Disclaimers: The materials herein have been produced or are used as a part of an independent partnership Icehearts Europe and should therefore not be viewed as official materials or views of the Finnish organisation Icehearts ry.

"Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor HADEA can be held responsible for them."