September 23 2026
Being for others: Lorraine's mentoring journey
Through Calvary's Refugee Mentoring Program, Lorraine Bell uses her own migration experience to help participants build confidence, connection and community.
More than 60 years after arriving in Australia as a young migrant, Lorraine Bell understands the challenges of building a life in a new country.
Today, the Allied Health Assistant at Calvary John James Hospital is helping people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds build confidence, connection and belonging through Calvary's Refugee Mentoring Program.
When Lorraine Bell joined Calvary's Refugee Mentoring Program as a mentor, she wasn't simply volunteering her time.
She was drawing on a lifetime of lived experience.
More than 60 years ago, Lorraine arrived in Australia from England with her parents and younger brother after spending several weeks travelling by ship in search of a better life.
"My parents came to Australia to provide a better life and opportunities," Lorraine said.
Settling in Adelaide was a significant adjustment. "I remember the corrugated metal fences, so few trees and white gravel roads," she recalled.
The family settled in Elizabeth, a satellite city built to accommodate the influx of British migrants arriving in Australia at the time. While her father found work and her mother focused on raising the family, finding a sense of belonging proved much harder.
"At school we were a target because of our white skin and strong accents," Lorraine said.
"Making friends was hard where friendship groups were already established. We were very much excluded." Although decades have passed, those early experiences have never left her. Years later, returning to England for the first time was an emotional experience.
"I truly felt my soul had arrived 'home' as I stepped off the plane," she said. "A simple daisy in the grass and all my memories overwhelmed me."
Like many migrant families, Lorraine also experienced the heartache of being separated from loved ones.
She vividly remembers the phone call that brought news of her grandmother's passing. "I can still see my mother's face crumble with grief and regret," she said. "It taught me a lesson in telling those who matter that you love them."
Alongside those difficult memories were lessons in the importance of community.
Lorraine remembers her mother joining the Good Neighbour Council, where she met other mothers navigating the same experience of building a new life in Australia.
"It was a lesson in creating your own community where you are," Lorraine said. Today, those experiences shape the way Lorraine approaches mentoring.
Through Calvary's Refugee Mentoring Program, she supports participants as they gain valuable workplace experience, helping them navigate Australian workplace culture, build confidence in their communication and feel welcomed as part of the team.
For Lorraine, mentoring isn't about having all the answers. "I've always felt that people just want to be heard or seen for who they truly are," she said. "It's about creating a genuine connection."
Lorraine has had the privilege of mentoring a young participant as he builds his own future in Australia.
Together, they've shared stories, values and plenty of laughter while finding creative ways to communicate beyond language barriers.
"We are able to laugh together, share our values and histories," she said. "I hope that I have shown him support by listening long enough to overcome language barriers and giving him confidence to express himself, even though the sentence structure is odd."
The experience has been just as meaningful for Lorraine.
"He has shown me that sharing time and just being for others matters."
As Calvary's Refugee Mentoring Program continues to support people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds through workplace experience, mentorship and meaningful community connections, Lorraine believes the greatest impact often comes from something much simpler.
