What is mentoring?
Mentoring is spending time one to one regularly with a trusted adult. For children and young people referred to us, a mentor can offer the chance to talk, explore issues and come up with their own ways to cope. But mentoring is also about positive activities following the young person’s interests and goals. It’s about getting out and about, trying new things and connecting with our community.
Who needs mentoring?
The real answer is: everyone! We all need a friendly ear to listen and not judge. But for young people finding school, college or employment a struggle, or those affected by poor mental wellbeing or difficulties at home, a mentor can make all the difference. Mentors can help young people build confidence, self-esteem, skills and aspirations, improve relationships and plan pathways forward.
What mentoring can bring to you
Can anyone access mentoring?
Most of our support is offered to young people in Bath & NE Somerset (though our professional mentoring service can be available beyond). There are referral criteria for each service. Mentoring is funded by local authority commissions and charitable donations, so our capacity is limited. There’s lots more information available on this site.
How it works
We offer several different mentoring programmes for different ages and levels of need. All of them involve being referred, often by a school, another organisation or the family. We only work with young people and families who want mentoring. Once accepted onto a programme, all young people get chance to say what they want from mentoring, and to choose the activities they do with their mentor.