East Midlands
Mentoring and Befriending in your Region
Mentoring and Befriending in your Region
Mentoring and Befriending activity in East Midlands is rapidly growing. The 4th largest region in England is made up of a diverse mix of cultures and populations. The Foundation aims to work with all communities through charities and voluntary sector bodies.
At present we work with 703 mentoring and befriending projects and organisations in the region. At the end of February 2008, 189 of these had taken part in our consultation process. 29% of the projects consulted with were befriending, 46% were mentoring and 25% were 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 with low self esteem and those who are socially isolated, excluded or lonely.
East Midlands has many examples of good practice in Mentoring and Befriending including:
The Great Learning Centre at Leicestershire County Cricket Club is part of the DCSFs national 'Playing for Success' initiative and has been awarded advanced status from Quality in Study Support.
Using the environment and medium of sport; exciting learning methods and up-to-date technology, the study centre aims to inspire young people from schools across Leicestershire. A team of 28 motivated volunteers help to run the after-school sessions, 8 of whom are peer mentors aged under 16 who have attended the centre in the past.
The project was recently awarded MBFs Approved Provider Standard and Head Study Coach Helen Wilber said 'It provided an excellent opportunity to review and strengthen our system for working with volunteers - as a result we are recruiting and training more volunteers - thank you to MBF for the support and encouragement!
For more information contact Helen Wilber on 0116 2452441.
The Buddy Plus+ Volunteer Mentoring Project is run by Read On-Write Away!, a Derbyshire independent literacy project.
Buddy Plus+ works in partnership with the Derbyshire Youth Offending Service (YOS). Volunteer mentors work with young people aged 8 to 18 around the County who are at risk of social and educational exclusion or of committing anti-social or offending behaviour.
Mentors meet with their young person weekly for up to 6 months or more and help to address literacy, numeracy and life-style issues. Currently there are 30 volunteer mentors and from April 2008, Buddy Plus+ is linking with the Looked After Children Education Service (LACES) in Derbyshire to provide mentors for looked after children.
More information about Buddy+ can be found on the Read On-Write Away website or by contacting Tony Faulkner, ROWA!'s Volunteering Manager at tony@rowa.org.uk
At present we work with 703 mentoring and befriending projects and organisations in the region. At the end of February 2008, 189 of these had taken part in our consultation process. 29% of the projects consulted with were befriending, 46% were mentoring and 25% were 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 with low self esteem and those who are socially isolated, excluded or lonely.
East Midlands has many examples of good practice in Mentoring and Befriending including:
The Great Learning Centre at Leicestershire County Cricket Club is part of the DCSFs national 'Playing for Success' initiative and has been awarded advanced status from Quality in Study Support.
Using the environment and medium of sport; exciting learning methods and up-to-date technology, the study centre aims to inspire young people from schools across Leicestershire. A team of 28 motivated volunteers help to run the after-school sessions, 8 of whom are peer mentors aged under 16 who have attended the centre in the past.
The project was recently awarded MBFs Approved Provider Standard and Head Study Coach Helen Wilber said 'It provided an excellent opportunity to review and strengthen our system for working with volunteers - as a result we are recruiting and training more volunteers - thank you to MBF for the support and encouragement!
For more information contact Helen Wilber on 0116 2452441.
The Buddy Plus+ Volunteer Mentoring Project is run by Read On-Write Away!, a Derbyshire independent literacy project.
Buddy Plus+ works in partnership with the Derbyshire Youth Offending Service (YOS). Volunteer mentors work with young people aged 8 to 18 around the County who are at risk of social and educational exclusion or of committing anti-social or offending behaviour.
Mentors meet with their young person weekly for up to 6 months or more and help to address literacy, numeracy and life-style issues. Currently there are 30 volunteer mentors and from April 2008, Buddy Plus+ is linking with the Looked After Children Education Service (LACES) in Derbyshire to provide mentors for looked after children.
More information about Buddy+ can be found on the Read On-Write Away website or by contacting Tony Faulkner, ROWA!'s Volunteering Manager at tony@rowa.org.uk
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; either setting up a project, developing an existing programme or achieving Approved Provider Standard (APS) status.
Contact your Regional Co-ordinator(s)
