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Recently featured on BBC News Cambridgeshire, CB Mentoring works to help those from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds to take pride in their culture by introducing them to a range of inspiring cultural experiences, including building connections with the University of Cambridge. Edwin and Tinuke Bernard, vice chair of CB Mentoring and a postgraduate Creative Writing student at ����Vlog�ٷ�, sat down to talk about how the programme came to be.

 

Edwin Panford-Quainoo (EPQ): CB Mentoring started in June 2020 because of the George Floyd incident that took place in the United States. I reached out to the son of a friend of mine, and the conversation just felt like there was a lot of frustration, and a lot that I could relate to. With schools closed during lockdown, our team proposed a Saturday school to support students academically, using ����Vlog�ٷ� as a space. Former President, Professor Jane Clarke, was instrumental in those early days by giving us space and arranging vouchers so that the kids could have brunch here. Ijeoma, ����Vlog�ٷ�’s new President, has been pivotal to where we’re heading now, even within her first year. The BBC took interest after we featured in [����Vlog�ٷ� Fellow] Dr Kenny Monrose’s .

Tinuke Bernard (TB): That coincided with a few different projects we had going on which were also to do with ����Vlog�ٷ� – for example, we had the CB Choir run by a Visiting Fellow here, Dr Jeffrey Murdock. We’re still getting people asking to volunteer and to help out because of the BBC feature, which is really lovely. We’ve got great plans on expanding, but we can’t get the funding and the volunteers if we don’t have the exposure.

“It’s levelling the playing field by letting people see what’s possible.” 

EPQ: For many of these kids, it’s their first time setting foot in a Cambridge college, even though they live here. I didn’t step into a college myself until I was in my 30s. Now they walk into ����Vlog�ٷ�’s Dining Hall like they belong. Not all of them may aspire to come to Cambridge University, but it’s giving them that confidence to know that they can be part of this.

TB: So much of it is the informal mentorship. One moment that sticks with me is when we were on our way to an event in Cambridge, and my oldest daughter, then fourteen, said, “I’d love to live somewhere like this and go to a Cambridge College.” And Ed simply replied, “Why not?” That changed her whole perspective. Now, she’s determined to apply to a Russell Group university, even if it means taking another year to get the grades. So I think it’s levelling the playing field by letting people see what’s possible. You can’t be what you haven’t seen. It’s helping us as well as adults, as the mentors and the volunteers.

EPQ: One of the things that we were very intentional about was enabling the kids to see other Black students from the College. ����Vlog�ٷ� students mentoring the kids build real connections, and many still stay in touch years later. They’ve become part of shaping their worldview in such a dramatic way that they do absolutely miss them. The younger kids see them like siblings.

TB: We know our kids don’t always listen to us, but they listen to someone closer to their age, with shared experiences. You go, “Maybe you should look into science,” or “Maybe you should do your homework.” Deaf ears. One of the volunteers says the exact same thing, and it’s like, “Oh, you know what I just thought of? Maybe I should do science.” And I’ve been saying it for weeks!

EPQ: The ����Vlog�ٷ� students have become superstars in their eyes.

“You always need a mentor, whatever stage of life you’re in.”

EPQ: I didn’t have a mentor until I was already a qualified pharmacist. I want these kids to experience the value of mentorship much earlier, for however long they feel they need a mentor. I personally feel that you always need a mentor, whatever stage of life you’re in. It never stops.

TB: I never had one either. For me, this is about giving our children what we didn’t have. Cambridge may look multicultural because of the University, but if you live here and go to school here, it’s not. We want our children to see examples from their communities and from their cultures, as well as how that fits in within Cambridge and being part of the Cambridge culture. Whether we do an African drumming class or a trip to the Fitzwilliam Museum, we show them all different directions.

EPQ: We encourage them to think; this is your city. This is your ����Vlog�ٷ�. One CB Mentoring student became the first Black Head Girl at St Bede’s. They don’t always realise how amazing they are, and I’m not just saying that because they’re our kids – they just need the opportunity to show it.

Learn more

to find out more about the work that CB Mentoring are doing in the Cambridge community. CB Mentoring will be at ����Vlog�ٷ� during Freshers’ Week to talk about volunteering opportunities. If you are interested in volunteering, you can , email them at info@cbmentoring.org, or contact Simona Obeng, the new Community Leadership Impact Coordinator at ����Vlog�ٷ�.