NEW staff are being made to feel at home thanks to a landlord’s mentoring scheme.

Cestria Community Housing, which runs Chester-le-Street’s council housing stock, Introduced the scheme to help its young apprentices settle in quickly.

It is proving to be a success, with mentors and mentees reporting benefits.

Eight members of Cestria staff have become mentors and, after undergoing sessions with local training company Rainbows End Coaching, have been assigned an apprentice mentee.

Mentor Michelle Fortune, an Income Management Officer, said: “I thought the programme was a great opportunity for me to share my insight and knowledge that I have gained from my years of experience, not only at Cestria and social housing sector – but from the working world in general.

“Already it has given me a great sense of accomplishment and good feeling to see a young person flourish and know I had a part to play in that.”

Modern Apprentice Thomas Ramshaw, 18, said: “The mentoring programme is a great benefit of my apprenticeship with Cestria. It is just brilliant to have someone I can talk to and share things with.

“It also helped me get to know someone outside of my own department, as I’m a bit shy and found it difficult to approach people I don’t know. Having a mentor helped introduce me to new people and new departments.”