In 2019 we were delighted to be awarded a Children in Need grant to run a mentoring programme that supports young people from Wigan and Leigh. Our mentoring programme is aimed at young people living in the borough aged 8 to 19 years of age.
Our mentoring programme has seen 51 young people access the support of a mentor over the last two and a half years (albeit a difficult time for our members). Utilising 29 different mentors we have seen our members experience significant improvement in their self-confidence/aspirations/interactions with others. These relationships resulted in over 800 one-to-one mentoring sessions taking place since the start of our funding.
Our young people have enjoyed trips and activities in a variety of settings both in our youth club and out in the community. These have included trips to a skate park, trampoline centre, Go Ape, Haigh High Ropes, McDonald’s, Starbucks, local parks, Aquariums, theatre and skiing. This is in addition to the regular activities and areas they can access at our youth club such as football pitches, gym, music room, art room, the base, enterprise and employability amongst others.
We also celebrated International Mentor Day with a Pizza Party and going to Blackpool Pleasure Beach for a group day out for all of our Mentors and Mentees. Without the support of our volunteer mentors, we would not have been able to support over 50 young people on our BBC Children in Need funded programme. Mentors are valued members of our team and we would like to say a great big thank you.
Since the programme’s inception, young people from the mentoring programme have attended Wigan Youth Zone on over 11,500 occasions and participated in over 29,500 separate activities.
Many young people have benefitted from the support of a mentor and we are proud of the support we are able to provide. We are currently on the hunt for a new wave of Mentors (especially male role models – click here to meet our mentees) to inspire, increase the confidence and self-esteem of the young people of Wigan and Leigh.
Our mentors build relationships with members and offer guidance and advice on a variety of personal, academic, and professional situations – ultimately, our mentors give young people someone to talk to when they need it most.
Please don’t hesitate to get in contact for a chat on how you could positively impact a young person’s life. For more information on our Mentoring Programme click here