Our first volunteer mentor training course of 2016 took place during February, and we have six fabulous new mentors trained, checked and ready to go.

One mentor was matched  with his first mentee this week which was timely for mentor and mentee alike, not to mention a huge relief to the family.

Jason, the mentee, was referred to us by his Mother in the second week in January, after his increasing anxiety at school came to a head when he became violent at home and then ran away. The police were called, and Jason was brought home. School would not allow him to return until some support was in place for him. Mum called us at her wits end, not knowing where to turn for help.

We met Jason and Mum in mid January and Jason willingly told us his story, indeed he seemed relieved to share it.  Over the next three weeks we completed the PAUSE sessions together at The Door, and Jason also started attending The Drop-in on a Saturday.

When we called Mum in late February to say we had a mentor ready for Jason, she said he was already a changed young man. Mum had made the decision to remove him from his old school, having secured a place at Swindon Engineering College for him in September 2016.

The matching meeting took place this week. It was relaxed, friendly, focused and positive. Both Chris (The new mentor) and Jason were well prepared, and were both slightly nervous, but we got contracts signed and their first mentoring session arranged. Both Jason and Chris left feeling encouraged, positive and excited about their mentoring journey together.

Today, we received an email from Mum saying we had saved her family – we had managed to alleviate a potentially dangerous and volatile situation in their home, and her son was now on the right path. She was so grateful.

Shelagh G Mentoring Team Leader