Hello Friends and family,

My Sister and I are cycling from London to Brighton in September to raise funds for Family Action's Friendship Works Youth Mentoring Provision.

Friendship Works provides long-term mentoring to children and young adults facing multiple disadvantages. The programme is designed to support young people with experiences of childhood trauma or disrupted attachments who would benefit from additional adult support.

We match children and young adults with volunteer mentors who through quality friendships give young people access to new opportunities, help to build their self-confidence, and develop the resilience needed to manage adversity.

For a young person to build an effective and supportive relationship with their mentor it's important that contact is both frequent and long term. Research has shown that for young people the most significant impact of a mentoring relationship occurs after 12 months - which is why our volunteers commit to meeting their young mentee for two years.

The friendship is led by the needs and wants of the young person rather than by any externally set targets. In this way the young person is accepted for who they are and within the safety of this knowledge can grow in confidence and feel safe enough look to their mentor for guidance and emotional support.

All our mentors receive in-depth and bespoke training and on-going supervision support from our professional casework team who are experienced in either child and adult mental health, social care, education, or youth offending.

We work with children aged 5 - 18 across London. Circumstances these children may be dealing with include: being a young carer, living in families with a history of domestic violence or substance misuse, parents with mental health difficulties, managing their own mental or emotional health difficulties, living in the care system, being subject to a Child Protection Plan, or having a diagnosed Special Educational Need and/or Autistic Spectrum Condition.

We also work with young care leavers aged 18 - 25 across London who are managing the impact of early childhood trauma compounded with growing up in care and transitioning to adulthood. At this crucial point in a young person’s life an enduring and stable relationship with a positive, caring adult makes an enormous difference. Many care leavers are without family they can turn to for advice or support when life is frightening, lonely, or confusing. By establishing a trusting relationship with a mentor, young people leaving care are supported to develop life skills, build resilience, and sense of self worth - which will subsequently place them in a better position to have hopes for the future and access employment, training, or education.

Since having a Friendship Works Mentor 80% of young people we support said they felt happier and 76% of Care Leavers felt more positive about their future. Here are some of the things our young people say about their Friendship Works mentors -

"I can talk to her about anything, and I have done. From friendship problems when I was a teenager, to Uni, work experience, women’s rights, and even things going on at home. I talk to her about all the things in my head.”

"Even when I know he has other things going on in his life, he always makes time for me. I know I can turn to him.”

“I jump up on Saturday mornings now and get myself ready because I know I’m going to have a good time.”

“She's helped me to feel confident and believe in myself, and that makes me feel very emotional.”

Thank you for taking the time to read about what we do at Friendship Works. If you're able to donate anything at all that would be hugely helpful and appreciated.

If you'd like to know more about mentoring with Friendship Works see our website for more information - https://www.family-action.org.uk/what-we-do/children-families/mentoring/friendshipworks/

Thank you for your interest and support,

The Team at Friendship Works XX