A Black Country mentor will be sharing his experience and expertise to help inspire people in the local community at a special event.

Junior Hemans, Non-Executive Director for Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and a former Non-Executive Director of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, will be hosting a special ‘Evening With’ on Wednesday 4 October, which aims to bring awareness about mentoring and its benefits.

He has developed an initiative that will offer mentoring support to individuals between the ages of 14 to 60 years old.

Junior said: “I am often invited to speak at schools throughout the Black Country. I undertook a talk just after the first covid lockdown via Zoom.

“At the end of it, I started to wonder whether I am still relevant to the young people I just spoke to. I also questioned myself on how to ensure that more individuals could show up in schools and communities, where they may have grown up, and demonstrate that there is alternative to gang activities/crime. I called the mentoring initiative ‘Show up…’.

“I have mentored young people individually and have been a Prince’s Trust mentor since 2008 and seen the benefits of mentoring these individuals and businesses. I secured the support of Wolverhampton College, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton and Walsall Councils, and Walsall, Wolverhampton and Dudley NHS Trusts.

He added: “I believe it is important to support and guide individuals as they aspire in their dreams and ambitions. Simply put, ‘It takes a village to grow a child’. We are all children navigating our way through life and mentors at different stages of our lives, can and will assist us in our learning and development.

“This event will make people realise they can achieve, and it will help to kickstart their careers. You can’t be what you can’t see.

“I feel proud to have won the support of those who have come forward as mentors and the partners in believing in this initiative.

“Please do come along; bring family and friends and why not consider being a mentor?”

The evening will also feature networking opportunities with business professionals in the foyer at the start, during the interval and after the event.

Tickets for the evening with Junior Hemans at the Grand Theatres, Wolverhampton, at 7pm, are free with the following promotion code ‘SCHOOLSFREE’ at grandtheatre.co.uk.