We’re pleased to announce a new partnership with the London Borough of Redbridge to deliver high-quality one-to-one mentoring through SW!TCH Futures in ten new schools across the area.
This extension to our SW!TCH Futures programme will ensure every young person on the programme will take part in weekly 30-minute mentoring sessions using our tried and tested VIP Mentoring principles to guide them to find their vision, develop their identity, and follow their purpose. Mentoring will take place in schools, to ensure sessions are held in a relaxed and familiar environment where the young people can feel safe and secure. Sessions are shaped by input from the mentee, to ensure they have agency in their own future, and guided by an individual learning plan, tailored to each mentee’s own needs and challenges, outlining their path to a better future.
Through these sessions, we aim to see young people who not only exhibit mental wellbeing and self-confidence, but young people who are engaged in both their own future and the future of their community.
In addition to mentoring, the SW!TCH team will be running numerous positive activities each week during term time. These are designed to target the ‘lost hours’—between school ending and parents coming home—where there is a significant increase in incidences of youth violence and anti-social behaviour. A range of activities will be on offer, both physical and cultural, which each session engaging up to 30 young people.
Finally, we often hear from young people that they struggle during school holidays, due to the lack of structure and stability that school provides. Therefore, we’ll be running a special programme of activities during the school holidays, with further opportunities for young people to make new friends, receive embedded mentoring, and widen a network of adults they can trust through our youth workers.
"This is an opportunity to embed mentoring more deeply into Redbridge and provide much-needed support to not only young people, but their schools and families as well."
