Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Training Centre was an exciting venue in which to host the recent Mosaic Connect event in the North West.

After a warm welcome from Geoff Harris, the Assistant County Fire Officer, the event went on to celebrate the achievements of Mosaic’s mentoring programmes in the region over the past six months and encouraged everyone attending to help ensure the rest of the year is just as successful.

Mosaic is currently working with 45 schools in the region, with its programmes being delivered by a team of 180 mentors. The celebrated Enterprise Challenge competition is also now underway with the Regional Final taking place on the 28^th of March at the offices of KPMG in Manchester.

The keynote speaker at the Connect event was speaker Othman Moqbel, CEO of Human Appeal, who also took part in a fascinating Q&A session. He said: “It’s always such a pleasure to speak at Mosaic events, and especially to promote something close to my own heart, which is the importance of mentoring. Mentoring makes you humble and when you mentor someone you also discover so much about yourself. I find mentoring to be a responsibility that you cannot take lightly, and I truly commend all of Mosaic’s wonderful volunteer mentors”.

Mosaic mentor Filza Fawad, from the Secondary School Programme and one of the many mentors to attend the event said: “I enjoyed the Mosaic networking event. It is refreshing to see people share the same passion as you about, especially about the importance of mentoring and supporting young people who are vulnerable, at risk or not able to access opportunities around them. It is our responsibility to make strides and put these prospects within their reach as these young people will become tomorrow’s leaders.”

This was the first Mosaic Connect event to take place in the North West since the charity became part of The Prince’s Trust and Mosaic Regional Manager Nafisa Hakim said: “In this our tenth anniversary year, it’s wonderful to celebrate the incredible work that is going on throughout the region. Thanks as ever to our brilliant mentors who give up their time so readily to help inspire our young people to think big and aim high.”

Mosaic Connects North West