Hi, my name is Hana. 

I come from Slovakia and have lived in the UK for 10 years, having moved to Glasgow in 2013. 

I have a heart for creating safe spaces for children, young people and their families, where they know they are welcome, loved and supported, and where they can develop their wellbeing and grow as people. I have been working in the area of character-focused mentoring for the past 6 years. I am passionate about the topics of youth mentoring, character education and Positive Youth Development (PYD) and I developed our 'Wellbeing and Character Development' programme that consists of a 7 stage journey of growth. I have also delivered and overseen the running of a similar project before, so bring with me experience on training, safeguarding and supervision around how to foster positive developmental relationships and to create safe spaces for children impacted by trauma. 

I decided to set up WISE Mentoring after a previous charity that served the community was dissolved, leaving behind a gap in supportive services. I have worked in the specific community for the past 4 years, and am committed to seeing this project through to honour the close relationships that we have developed with primary schools, other organisations and families in the community.

I am also a part-time PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow. My research, based in Psychology and Education, is on how mentoring can facilitate the character development of young people. It is linked to the mentoring programme, which I have been evaluating as part of my PhD.

Around me are a lot of fantastic, passionate and committed people, many of whom used to volunteer for the now disbanded charity and want to continue giving their time to the children and community that they have come to know and love. I could not be prouder of these people. We are a group whose stories are a testament to just how much we meant it when we committed to coming alongside these children. Having taught children about resilience in the face of difficulty, our own resilience has been put to the test. We are excited to now have a chance to demonstrate how much we care about this work, the children, the community and the character strengths that we are embodying.