Cowal u3a meeting – Laura Campbell of MCR Pathways

At our April general meeting there will be an update on what is planned for the coming few months and then the floor will be handed over to Laura Campbell.

MCR Pathways is a national, award-winning mentoring programme. It has been running at Dunoon Grammar School since 2023. Its vision is for all young people to experience equality of education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances. This school-based mentoring programme supports young people to find, grow and use their talents. Volunteer mentors spend one hour a week listening to and encouraging their young person. Mentors come from all walks of life, and many are retired or semi-retired. The only qualification needed to be a mentor is the desire to help and be there. MCR mentors help the young person they are matched with to realise their full potential and be empowered with the confidence and belief to make it happen.

Laura has worked at MCR Pathways for over 5 years now and has seen the organisation grow massively in that time. Her current role as Partnerships Manager for the West of Scotland allows her to travel around and meet many amazing potential mentors, which she absolutely loves! Being from Oban, she was always keen for MCR to expand into Argyll and Bute, and was so excited to launch in Oban, Dunoon and Helensburgh back in 2023. Through the success of the programme in the last 2 years, MCR have also recently been able to launch in Rothesay too.

u3a is a UK-wide movement of locally-run interest groups that provide a wide range of opportunities to come together to learn for fun. Members explore new ideas, skills and activities together.

There are over 1000 u3as with around 400,000 members; membership costs less than £20 on average per year and is open to everyone who’s not working full-time.

u3a has members who draw upon their knowledge and experience to teach and learn from each other but there are no qualifications to pass – it is just for pleasure. Learning is its own reward.

It’s all voluntary; a typical u3a will be home to many activity groups covering hundreds of different subjects – from art to zoology and everything in between.

For more information, visit the Cowal u3a website:  Cowal