Buddy Scheme  Guidance for students on the Buddy Scheme

 Once we find you a match, we’ll email you with your buddy’s details. The email we send you will:

• Come from sumac@sumacmentoring.co.uk.
• Have “Meet your buddy” in the subject line.
• Contain the contact details of your match and some documents with information and ideas on activities that you can do together.

Remember there’s no rule on who should make the first contact. Be proactive and contact your buddy match as soon as you can to introduce yourself and start your buddy partnership.

It’s up to you and your buddy to decide what to do. In your ‘meet your buddy’ email, you’ll find a ‘do it together’ resource pack which has lots of ideas about activities to try and join together, including our weekly Global Café.

You might decide to meet for a coffee, go for a walk around Hyde Park, explore a new area of Leeds or study together.  

The great thing about the Buddy Scheme is that it is very informal and you can go to events together, meet up for lunch or just hang out. Just make sure you and your buddy have discussed what you feel comfortable with when meeting up first. Why not meet in a public place on campus for coffee to start with? 

Buddying is a two-way process which means that both of you will have to work at making the relationship a success. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out of the experience.

Buddying is a relationship built on trust, openness, honesty and mutual respect.

A good buddy is someone who is:  

• Approachable and supportive  
• Able to share experiences 
• Proactive about their own development 
• Self-aware, non-judgmental and objective.  

An effective buddy will:  

• Be motivated and willing to commit the time and effort to the relationship 
• Explore the purpose of the buddy relationship and what each person needs from the relationship
• Be open to new ideas and approaches 
• Build rapport and create a safe space to share issues or challenges, hopes and successes 
• Explore activities and options that will help buddies to move forward.  

SUMAC is the online platform that we use to manage the Buddy Scheme. You can log in at any time to review and update your member profile. To do this:

• click the ‘sign in’ button on SUMAC
• click the ‘forgotten your password’ link
• set your own secure password
• log in to view and edit your profile.

You can also email the Buddy Scheme team at buddyscheme@leeds.ac.uk and we can update your profile. 

If you would like to be matched with a new buddy as you feel you have nothing in common with your buddy or feel you are not being supported in the way you expected, please email the Buddy Scheme at buddyscheme@leeds.ac.uk. We will try to resolve the situation and see what we can do to make your experience better. Please be open with your buddy and tell them how you feel.

If your buddy isn’t replying to you, we encourage you to contact them for one final time and have an open conversation with them, tell them how you feel and ask them to confirm if they would like to continue the buddy relationship. Set a deadline for them to respond by.

If you have contacted your buddy and still haven’t heard anything back, please email the Buddy Scheme at buddyscheme@leeds.ac.uk. We can re-match you with a new buddy.

You can be matched with more than one buddy. Please email the Buddy Scheme at buddyscheme@leeds.ac.uk so we can update your profile and match you with another buddy. 

Please complete the Buddy Scheme leavers form to formally withdraw from the Buddy Scheme.  

It is absolutely fine to leave the scheme – please let your buddy know about your decision too. We’ll also contact them to let them know you’re no longer part of the scheme and match them with someone else.