Mentor news

Humphrey, our Primary Mentoring Manager, has dusted off his walking shoes in aid of Mentoring Plus and has decided to walk the West Highland Way in Scotland to raise much-needed funding for us.

He will walk the gruelling 96 mile trek from Glasgow to Fort William over the course of a week in May. Humphrey would really appreciate your support so please consider sponsoring him for this epic adventure.

Come and join us for an informal catch up at our third Mentor Social on Tuesday 16th April 6.30-8pm here at Riverside.

Please come along to chat to us and fellow mentors over a cuppa and a piece of cake. 

Lou and Dave visited St Marks Secondary School to deliver an assembly promoting our youth group sessions to young people. A pizza night was held on 8th February at our Thursday youth group and a fun time was had by all. Our Thursday Youth Group sessions are held at Riverside from 6-8pm and are for young people aged 11 and upwards. Please encourage your mentee to come along.

Lace up, hit the streets, and run with purpose! Join us and run the Bath Half for Mentoring Plus and contribute to building a brighter future for children and young people facing really tough challenges in their lives who are living in BathNES. 

We currently have 2 places available and can provide you with training sessions, tips, and support from an experienced running coach. Email to register your interest in joining the team.

Almost every young person we work with finds school a really difficult place to be. What we can we do to help them? We can rebuild confidence and aspiration. We can offer space for reflection and wellbeing. We can advocate for additional needs to be met. We can bridge the divide between school and family.

Mentoring Plus does all this, and it makes a difference for our young people. At a time when problems in education can feel vast and intractable, we want to focus on asking what we can do to help.

On Sunday 15th October we had a fantastic day at the Bath Half Marathon. A huge thank you to our runners who were all amazing and who have so far helped us to raise nearly £4000 for Mentoring Plus. We have a few charity places for the March 2024 event so if you are interested in taking part, please get in touch with Becki at community@mentoringplus.net

Our Youth Reps have worked extremely hard over the last couple of years helping Cleveland Pools to promote the refurbishment of this amazing historic facility. We are pleased to say that this after years of hard work, Cleveland Pools is now open. We are so proud to have supported them on their journey.

Riverside was a hive of activity on Tuesday 8th August as our primary mentees enjoyed getting together for their annual Summer activity. The weather did not dampen the spirits of making pizzas in the outdoor wood fired pizza oven which were made to restaurant quality!

The group also enjoyed arts and crafts, playing pool and air hockey and using the space at Riverside to relax.

It was a small group of children but this worked well as the children valued this time to open up about their own experiences in a safe space. 

On Tuesday 27^th June Riverside was the place to be as we successfully celebrated 25 years of Mentoring Plus. The evening showcased many of our young people's creativity and adults alike!

It was lovely to see so many of our community taking part. Special thanks to Bath Youth Samba who gave a stunning drumming performance and even invited mentoring pairs to join them.

A highlight of the evening was the premiere of 'Shoulder to Shoulder', a short film made by our mentees and youth club members (view the film below). Here's to the next 25 years!

We had some really positive feedback about our new look mentor social which we held back in May at Riverside (Mentoring Plus HQ). Mentors enjoyed catching up with other mentors, sharing stories and challenges, playing some Dobble and eating cake and ice cream.....a top evening!

We have scheduled the next one for Tuesday September 12^th 6.30-8pm at Riverside and would love to see you there.

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week and this year’s theme is understanding anxiety and the impact it has on our lives. Anxiety can affect the young people we work with, their families and ourselves.
 
Having a consistent mentoring session each week can contribute towards the positive mental health of our young people and spending quality time with a mentor can really enhance positive mental health.

Preparations for our 25^th Anniversary celebration are well underway, and we will be celebrating the occasion with an event on Tuesday 27^th June 2023 at Riverside Youth Hub.

Being alongside young people is at the heart of our work and in our 25^th year, Mentoring Plus is asking our community to join in with expressing the everyday magic of being ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’.

We are asking for contributions from mentoring pairs to share their experiences of mentoring along the theme of Shoulder to Shoulder to explore “When I’m shoulder to shoulder with my mentor I feel like I can….”

It’s our 25^th Anniversary this year and to mark it we are a holding an event on Tuesday 27^th June 2023 at Riverside Youth Hub. Our young people and families, volunteers, staff, supporters, partners, and local community are invited to join us at the event which will be an exhibition celebrating mentoring and young people.

Working, walking and talking alongside each other is at the heart of our work and in our 25^th year, Mentoring Plus is asking our community to join in with expressing the everyday magic of being ‘Shoulder to Shoulder’.

6^th February marked the start of Children’s Mental Health week and this year the theme for the week was “Let’s Connect”.
 
It's great fun to connect with your mentee playing games, chatting over a coffee, going for walks, and spending time outside together. Connecting with someone else can improve our mental health including improved self-esteem, lower rates of anxiety and depression and increased resilience.

The start of a New Year can bring mixed feelings for many of us; with resolutions made and plenty of adverts exhorting us to try something new it can also be a harder time of year for many people and the importance of being kind to ourselves sometimes needs a reminder.