Last year, over 2,000 children came to the UK unaccompanied, after having been separated from their families. These young people have experienced traumatic events and have a range of physical, psychological and social difficulties. They can become isolated from their communities in the UK and may not be able to cope mentally with general day to day life, let alone understand how to navigate the complex systems in which they find themselves.

The Mentoring Project matches these young people with Volunteer Mentors who meet them once a week for 6 months in order to provide tailored one-to-one support. Mentors teach the young people English, build their confidence and levels of trust, reduce their isolation and increase their academic potential. For those suffering from mental health problems, they provide emotional and practical support that creates stability and helps them adapt and settle into life in the UK. 

With only one member of staff we can only manage up to 25 mentoring relationships to take place at any one time. This means we have to turn young people away and can only work in particular areas of London. With your help, we would like to increase our capacity so that we can expand the Mentoring Project and double the amount of young people we can support. 

“If I didn’t have my Mentor, I would have given up on trying to get an education”  

"It is very good for young people who don't have people around to help them for their education and enrolling at college. If you don't know about London, Hope for the Young can show you places in London better. They help you learn to have a better life in the future.” 

“The best thing about mentoring is that you get to meet people who you would never usually get to, who can help with education, inspire and help you to achieve your goals. It helps to build relationships here that would not be possible without Hope for the Young.”  

“It has been nice to just have somebody to talk to”