What is Mentoring?
As a Volunteer Mentor we are looking for Mentors to provide, online help, advice and support across four main areas: Employment, Business Start-Ups, Training & Skills and general Well Being. Knowledge from, running a business or specific industry knowledge to personal life experiences and challenges will provide you with all the experience you need to support others in similar situations achieve their goals.

What skills can I draw on?

As a Mentor you can use both your personal and business skills, to help guide someone who is looking for help.

What am I committing myself to as a Mentor?
If you are concerned about what you are committing yourself to – please be reassured that, in our experience, the mentor always learns as much as a mentee in a mentoring relationship. You have only to commit a little bit of your time and share your valuable experience and knowledge with your mentees. There is help available in the unlikely event that you should need it. Contact:   This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

How much time do I need to give?
As a volunteer, how much time you allocate to mentoring will depend on how much time you want to give and how many mentee’s you decide to interact with. Depending on what you and your mentees are discussing at the time will determine how often you will link-up, but a once-a- week check-in is recommended to keep the relationship alive.

Can I stop working with a Mentee at any time?
Yes, just be honest with the Mentee but be aware that the mentee will be able to score you and it will effect your quality rating.

How do I start the mentoring process once a Mentee gets in touch?
Once approached on-line by the mentee, if you are able to help, all you have to do is agree to be their mentor. Messages will be visable in your Mentor Hive mailbox and you can respond to each new message as it arrives. We also provide an open forum where you can post offers of help or search for a Mentee that has posted a problem.

What software do I need?
You don’t need any software other than an up to date web browser. We strongly recommend using Google Chrome or Firefox to view and use The Mentor Hive. We would ask you to avoid using Internet Explorer 6.x and all versions prior to that.

We also recommend using Skype although it is not required. For an up todate version and installation instructions please view their website.

What if I cannot help?
We do not expect you to deal with everything your Mentee may raise. Set boundaries with your Mentee that you are comfortable with and stick to them. Mentors are recruited with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences and there may be other Mentors available to support personal issues raised, such as a major lack of confidence, addictions or relationship problems so you can always recomend searching for additional help if needed.

What do I do if things go wrong?
Effective communication is the key to the success of any mentoring relationship with good communication based on trust and honesty, so if at any time you are experiencing problems, do not be afraid to acknowledge that there is a problem so that alternative options can be explored. In the event of inappropriate behaviour or language being used, we provide a 'Report' facility to enable conversations to be investigated. 

Why do you provide a ‘Feedback and Rating’ system?
Feedback is vital to both parties in the mentoring relationship. As a mentor you need feedback so you can assess whether your support and guidance is working and to provide a measure of your success. For the Mentee it provides a way to understand the quality of the Mentors that we have available to them based on past mentee users and the experience you bring to the mentoring relationship.

What will you do with my personal information?
We are committed to safeguarding information we hold on both Mentors and Mentees and will not be shared with any person or company outside of our Group. To register as a Mentor, you need to give us certain information such as your name, date of birth, email address, mobile phone number and address however conversations through our Mentor site are confidential and anonymous and your personal details will not be made visible.

We advise you not to share any of your personal details at any point and  selecting to provide 'face to face' interactions are at your own risk and discretion.

How many Mentees can I communicate with?
You can help as many mentees as you like through the site, as long as you are comfortable with the time you have available to allocate in order to provide help and guidance.

How is The Mentor Hive moderated?
Our network provides a 'face to face' Mentor scheme which provides an introduction to a Mentor for New Business Start-Ups. For Mentors that select to provide 'face to face' mentor support, an Ixion Mentor Coordinator will contact you to discuss this service. Mentors that select to provide support via Skype, do so at their own risk, as conversations on Skype are outside the control of the Mentor Hive.

The Mentor Hive offers an online solution to mentor the long term unemployed and those wanting to start or grow their own business. We have a registration process for Mentors, and only Mentees that are registered with our Network will be able to access the Mentor service. Interactions between Mentor and Mentee is anonymous, with protection built in to allow inappropriate interactions to be reported and we request that you help moderate your own discussions and make sure you do not use language that is considered abusive, obscene, defamatory or generally unlawful. We reserve the right to remove or block interactions between Mentor or Mentee at our discretion.

Where can I find out about the Terms and Conditions?

The Terms and Conditions form part of the registration process and will need to be accepted to become a Mentor on the Mentor Hive. These are also available to view once you have registered. We also provide access to our Privacy Policy, Acceptable Use Policy and Terms of Use Policy on  the Home Page. Please note that as we provide an interactive forum for Mentors and Mentees to communicate directly with each other, we cannot be held responsible for any content, views or contents that are submitted and we would recommend that any inappropriate interactions are reported for action to be taken. We cannot moderate interactions outside of The Mentor Hive and discussions that take place using Skype or other face to face methods are at your own risk.   

What should I do if I want to close my Mentor account?

If at any time you want to stop being a Mentor, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will contact you to make arrangements for your Mentor Account to be removed. Once your Mentor Account has been removed, it cannot be re-instated and therefore we would encourage you to keep your account live, but change your profile to remove all areas in which you offer help so that your Mentor Profile does not come up in a Mentee Search, and decline any requests you receive until such time that you are available to Mentor again.

Are there any age restrictions to register as a Mentor or Mentee?
You must be 18 or over to register as a Mentor or Mentee and open to UK residents only.