The Hargreaves Foundation supports Mentoring Plus, Bath and North East Somerset

The Trustees of the Hargreaves Foundation are happy to announce that funding has been allocated to Mentoring Plus, an independent charity providing mentoring and support for children and young people who are facing tough challenges across Bath & North East Somerset.

Delivering a range of programmes including Volunteer Mentoring, Professional Mentoring, Student and Family Support, and Group Activities, Mentoring Plus support 180 children and young people to feel safe, feel heard and feel hopeful for their future each week. Children are referred by their schools or behavioural panel and are matched with a trained adult volunteer who mentors them weekly over a 12-month period, building a trusting relationship that provides a secure base from which children can move forward with their personal development - often children do not have these kinds of safe and supportive spaces elsewhere in their lives.

All sessions include a positive activity that the mentee is supported to choose and reflects their positive interests. This is alongside the opportunity for the child to talk freely about their experiences with a kind, consistent, non-judgemental adult. The aim is to address breadth and depth of need, which in turn increases the capacity of every child to get the most out of their education.

The funding from The Hargreaves Foundation will support their Volunteer Mentoring programme for children aged 7-11 and will support the salary of one of their Mentoring Practitioners this financial year. This practitioner will support up to 15 children and their mentors and will be a key part of the mentoring process, receiving referrals, matching them with a mentor, supporting the relationship throughout the year, following up safeguarding concerns and representing the child's interests in multi-agency support processes.