News and Events
If is wasn’t for the support I got from Rainer (South Yorkshire) I would have been back in prison by now.
John – young person
Innovative mentoring pilot for young people in Kent
Rainer announced today that is working in partnership with Kent County Council to set up an exciting new mentoring pilot, which has the potential to make a significant and positive difference in the lives of children in care in the county.
The programme will involve more than 60 young people being 'matched' to volunteer adult mentors. Volunteers will be recruited from the local community over the next few weeks and, after a thorough training process, mentors will work individually with young people to provide support in all aspects of their lives.
Depending on the individual situation, the mentoring role may involve helping young people with their schoolwork, working with them to solve day-to-day problems and make future plans or supporting them to take part in sport and to eat healthily. Young people will also be encouraged by their mentors to become involved in local community activities and social networks.
As a group, children in care have poor experiences of education and lower educational outcomes than their peers. National statistics show that fewer than five per cent of care leavers attend university, compared to 48 per cent of young people in the population as a whole.
The mentoring pilot is part of a £1.5 million national scheme, led by Rainer and supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, which aims to turn those figures around. Locally, Kent County Council has expanded the pilot by covering the cost of a full time member of staff to support it.
Rainer Kent county manager Mick McCarthy said:
"We have seen from our extensive work mentoring young people over the past seven years that the support of a mentor can make a huge difference. In some cases, a Rainer volunteer mentor may be the only person in a young person's life who is not paid to spend time with them, and they are therefore in a unique position to build trust and provide support."
"Our mentors also tell us that they find the experience of getting to know and supporting a young person to be immensely rewarding. It sometimes even opens up career avenues that they hadn't considered or felt qualified for beforehand."
Becky Pini, who has volunteered for Rainer Kent for the past three years said:
"Mentoring is without a doubt one of the most satisfying things I have ever done. It has been extremely challenging, but coming away from meetings where you know you have made a difference, or your young person has really engaged with you, is just indescribable.
"I think anybody with an open mind, lots of patience, and the ability to see the good in everyone has the potential to be a good mentor."
James, a young person from Canterbury who was mentored by a Rainer Volunteer for a year, said:
"When I first met my mentor I'd been out of school for about two-and-a-half years. I was 16. I was put back into an alternative curriculum project and was going to give it a few weeks and then gradually get rid of it. But just talking about everything around most of the key areas of my life, I decided to stay on and got a GCSE in maths and English and then went on to college and do my A-levels. I'm just about to end my second year.
"If someone had told me a year before the mentoring that I would be at college doing A-levels - especially doing law - I would have probably laughed. I would say that is the achievement I'm most happy with."
Anyone who is interested in becoming a volunteer mentor for Rainer Kent should contact Phillippa Forster on 01622 772250 or visit the Rainer website at www.raineronline.org and click on 'please volunteer.'
Ends
Notes to editors
1. For further information please contact Rainer press officer Lucy Jackson on 020 7840 5627 or 07734 022409.
2. Rainer is the national charity for under-supported young people. We work with 14,000 young people and young adults in 115 communities across the country - including those who are at risk of family breakdown, in or leaving care, caught up in the criminal justice system, homeless, or outside education, training or employment. www.raineronline.org.
