Mentoring and our Education Wrap Around Service

Our Social Work Assistant mentors respond to need quickly and flexibly, always with empathy and a view to understanding each person’s unique situation. We create individual development plans for each young person and offer a range of sports and well being programs, depending on the young person’s interests and needs. We have been able to secure close relationships and links with a range of local initiatives.

The over-arching target of our wrap-around service is to make a positive and lasting impact on every young person, giving them the confidence and support needed to achieve their true potential, regardless of the challenges they face.

Basically, the wrap around service is a bespoke combination of education and mentoring with the needs of the children at the core.

A five year study sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters Canada found that children with mentors were more confident and had fewer behavioural problems. Girls in the study were four times less likely to become bullies than those without a mentor and boys were two times less likely. In general, young people showed increased belief in their abilities to succeed in school and felt less anxiety related to peer pressure.

Our staff genuinely care about inspiring young people to refocus their energy towards something meaningful and use their experience and expertise with each young person they work with to achieve this. Consistent mentoring with trust-worthy mentors allows young people to build secure relationships, develop trust, confidence and the ability to talk about their successes and difficulties. We can engage with some of the most vulnerable and disengaged young people by providing a safe and nurturing environment where they can relax and be themselves.

Through our one-to-one mentoring relationship, we create an individual development plan for each young person, that is goal-orientated and framed within a defined time-scale. Our flexibility means that we are able to fill the gaps in our providers’ capacity – for example, liaising with multi agency plans, attending meetings and helping to join up services.