GLASGOW COMMONWEALTH GAMES REPRESENTATIVE EMILY DUDGEON UPDATES US ON THE FANTASTIC BMC MENTORING SCHEME:

It was kicked off last year and Scottish international Emily Dudgeon has been doing great work for the BMC as we found out when we caught up with her.

BMC: Tell us which mentors have been active to date?

Emily Dudgeon: Alison Leonard, Laura Weightman, Lynsey Sharp and myself.

BMC: A year or so after we rolled out the pilot of this initiative how do you feel it’s going?

Emily: I feel it is doing ok, although I think we need to continue to advertise it consistently to make people more aware of it to attract more mentees. I also think it might be helpful to start doing a monthly Q&A session with a mentor, or a discussion on a theme relevant to athlete development. I am also keen to hear readers' views of how we can encourage people to contact us and what else they feel we could do.

BMC: What type of support are the mentors providing?

Emily: Mentors provide support via email to their mentees to answer questions they have and provide support. Unfortunately I don't think we have had enough athletes take part to answer the second part.

BMC: What is the biggest challenge for the scheme in the future?

Emily: I think our biggest challenge is in raising awareness so that athletes know we are there for them for whatever issue they are facing.

BMC: What can the BMC membership do both to support the initiative and to get the best out of it?
Emily: To support the scheme, we need coaches, clubs, athletes and parents to be aware that it is there for all of those groups, with an aim to provide any support they require. We would also like to expand the programme to include male athletes and more event group

For more information about contacting a mentor go to our website through the link: http://www.britishmilersclub.com/aboutbmc/bmcMentorform.asp