We provide support to children and young people through four main activities. Our focus is on 1:1 mentoring, with group workshops, family celebration events and residential trips supplementing the main programme.
The four elements of this project are designed to provide the best holistic support for children and young people. The key to all of these is that they are designed and led by the children and young people themselves. Young people will be continuously consulted on all elements of the project, from what they do with their mentors, what workshops they would like, how the family celebrations take place and where to go on trips. We love for the young people to take ownership over these elements – this is an important part of empowering them with responsibility – so you will often see young people leading events and inputting into the project.
Our mentors are volunteers from the local community who give a regular amount of time to that young person. They can meet up to play football, go for a walk, learn a new skill together or just chat. The sessions are led by the young person and facilitated by the mentor. It is through this relationship that confidence is built to talk about challenging issues that the young person may be facing such as self-esteem, behaviour issues, disengagement with education, and loneliness, to name a few. Continuity of contact is key for our mentors and mentees and is why we work to form positive long-term relationships
Spaces where new skills can be learned, friendships can be made, and a space mentors and mentees can interact together. These range from dance sessions, bike mechanics, cooking, art, and sport. There will be sessions for all who are interested. These are free to access and a real chance for the young people to learn new skills in a fun and friendly environment. Many young people will struggle to apply skills learned in their 1:1 mentoring sessions to real life situations and so will need a supportive group to boost their emotional resilience. This is where these workshops play an important role.
These are events that are open to the young person’s wider family to be part of. A chance to celebrate achievements and for mentors to get to know their families.
We love to encourage families to play together and enjoy time together. These take the form of fun gatherings such as meals, sports activities, or trips out. The important thing with these events is to extend the invite to the young people’s wider family and support networks. Sometimes even an invite is a small step forward. We hope that these will become spaces where the young people can be celebrated.
A chance for young people and their mentors to go away as a group and enjoy being in a different environment.
These are fantastic opportunities to build on relationships formed and a chance to have those conversations around a campfire. Those magic moments where young people ‘get something’. Travelling out of your normal environment helps give space to think more reflectively, whilst also being great fun! We have links with some amazing residential centres and campsites so they will be an event for all to remember.
We work closely with GPs, social workers, schools, youth clubs, adventure playgrounds and other community organisations to make sure we are reaching the young people that would benefit from this project. As well as this, young people and families will be able to self-refer to the project. We want to make it as simple as possible for children and young people to access these opportunities and understand that working with organisations in the community is the key to this.
We are open to any young person accessing our service and will access the support needed for that young person on a case by case basis. Our service is primarily for those young people who are having a challenging time walking through life. We will work with children and young people who are:
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Step Out Mentoring is an initiative of The Wells Trust.
Charity #1103436
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