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Welcome! The IRVAP Mentorship & Member Support Programme aims to actively support and encourage new and existing members. It will connect our community and offer guidance to assist in the professional and personal development of our members, within the animal industry sector.

Meet your Council Officer leading this service -

Avril Coleman BSc(Hons), PgCertSART, MIRVAP(VP)(ICH)

We aim to:

• Encourage a supportive community within IRVAP
• Support induction for new graduates
• Be approachable and non-judgemental in providing support to members on an individual basis
• Foster "knowledge sharing"
• Empower members to develop skills whether Mentee or Mentor
• Remain current and dynamic within our industry

Mentees

Graduates or those lacking industry experience will be entered into a 6-month mentorship programme and be paired with a mentor to liaise with as necessary. This will be a minimum of once a month contact (most likely by email but can discuss between themselves).

Mentees will be nominated by the Council upon membership application, plus current members can also self-nominate to the Programme.

Mentors

Mentors are existing IRVAP members, with sufficient industry experience and approved by the Council. Mentees will be paired with a mentor most suited to their experience as well as availability.

Both mentor and mentee will be required to reflect on the pairing once the 6-month programme has ended. This is for feedback and evaluation of the process and to support its development.

IRVAP Mentor Team

Member Support

Member support is open to all members at any time -

• Mentees will provide support via email as an initial point of contact
• Member areas Hub will contain regularly updated resources such as stress management strategies, mindfulness, coping with covid -19, common dilemmas and loss / grief

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