When the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability and its corporate partner Barclays asked for volunteers to mentor disabled people interested in setting up their own businesses, Dan McLaren, a local business manager at the bank, was keen to get involved.

At first he was slightly nervous about mentoring a disabled person. “I did have a preconception I suppose that there would be a difference [advising a disabled person]. That there may be a problem communicating, for example. I did not know the kind of disability that I would encounter.”

Such fears quickly disappeared when he was paired up with Schani Cave, a dance and pilates teacher and massage therapist. The two knew each other from school but were not exactly old friends.

“There was almost a tribal atmosphere [at school],” McLaren says. “In the early Eighties one side of the common room was into hardcore rave and the other was into indie music. Unfortunately I was a cheesy raver.” Cave was an indie kid so they rarely spoke, but even so, having that small connection helped to break the ice.

“We talked about what he wanted to do with the business; what his ambitions and goals were and the steps he was taking to achieve those aims.”

It was McLaren’s job to get Cave to focus on running his business. “Schani is a very good people person but there are always things in the background that any business person has to deal with.”

McLaren is happy to be a sounding board. It’s good to talk – and listen, he says. “I think that people often need someone else to listen to what they want to achieve while the actual process of talking about what your goals are helps [you] in terms of motivation and reassurance.”

Mentoring Cave proved a rewarding experience for McLaren, just like his day job. “I feel I added some value to Schani’s business, but I get that feeling with any business that achieves success.”

When Schani Cave suffered a series of strokes after university, his career plans changed slightly. He knew he’d never be an entertainer on a cruise ship as he had once planned, so he set up his own business teaching disabled and elderly people.

Cave signed up to the Leonard Cheshire Disability scheme because he needed off-the-peg, specialist business advice. “Because this was a disability-specific programme, I thought they may have a better understanding to be able to support me.”

When Cave eventually met McLaren, there was an instant rapport thanks to a sense of shared history, even though “our paths never crossed”, he says. Over the past six months, they have met up for coffee five or six times at the bank and elsewhere and exchanged e-mails.

Cave has not been disappointed by the mentoring process. “I understood from previous courses about business planning, but Dan helped to tailor it to me and my business. I understood the hypothetical and he was able to give me the reality.”

McLaren encouraged Cave to get to grips with his business. “What Dan made me realise is that a business plan is a living document. You don’t necessarily follow it A, B, C but you might follow it A, C, E.”

He describes the relationship as an equal one. McLaren does not pretend to know all about the dance business, he says. Nor is it like visiting your bank manager.

“Because we are the same age it is very much like talking to a peer. I don’t feel like I am being judged or talked down to. It’s very much an informal chat with someone who’s acting as a sounding board.”

McLaren and Cave still catch up to discuss things. And Cave hopes that they will stay in touch. “There may come a point of closure but, given the history between us, there will always be an interest there to keep in touch as friends as well as mentors.”

www.leonard-cheshire.org, www.barclays.com

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