North West

Mentoring and befriending in your region

Mentoring and Befriending activity in the North West is exciting and the sector is growing fast. With a population approaching seven million, the North West is a socially diverse region with Manchester and Liverpool serving as the two main centres of population in the North West with significant surrounding conurbations; areas of Lancashire, Cumbria and Cheshire serving as vast inter-regional contrast. The Foundation aims to reach both urban and rural communities through its work with charities & voluntary sector bodies. 

At present we work with over 637 mentoring and befriending projects and organisations in the region. To date 343 of these have taken part in our registration process. 19% of the projects consulted with were befriending, 54% mentoring and and 27% peer mentoring (both pre and post 16). Most of these projects were in the non profit sector with the majority being run by voluntary organisations and charities. The most popular client group that these projects work with are those at risk of offending/offender management and those with low confidence/self esteem.

The North West has many examples of good practice in Mentoring and Befriending, including:
Grace Incorporation Faith Trust (G.i.f.t) is a community based holistic charity positively improving the lives of the people of Manchester. The mentoring project has been running for over 5 years and is one of their core services offered alongside counselling, mediation, supplementary education and accredited training. The mentoring is primarily delivered to young people between the ages of 12-19 years with the aim of getting them engaged and motivated in education, employment and training. We have a pool of volunteer mentors providing support for Manchester Youth Offending Service, schools and communities.  Currently the project has about 20 mentoring matches operating with up to 120 matches per year.

G.i.f.t strives to deliver an effective mentoring service that makes a real difference to people and is proud to be recognised as an approved provider of mentors by the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation. 

The Together Women Project - Lighthouse Project is the largest independent substance misuse charity in Merseyside. For over 40 years, Lighthouse Project has been successfully providing services to meet the individual needs of our client group, including providing a support network for people living in our communities whose lives are affected by the drug and alcohol issues of their friends and family members. Working closely with partner organisations, we aim to tackle drug and alcohol related issues at the heart of local communities. We currently have 18 community based teams, spanning the Merseyside area.

Contact Sarah McKenna project Co-ordinator on 0151 482 2788 for further information 

More examples of the real impact of Mentoring and Befriending within local communities can be found at our case studies or regional news.

We have representatives in all of the nine government regions throughout England, making a direct impact upon the communities that you live in. They can help you with a number of things; for example setting up a project, developing an existing programme or achieving Approved Provider Standard.

Contact your Regional Co-ordinator(s)