Whatever your mentoring needs may be, Purpose For Living's Mentoring Solutions is here to support you in delivering best value to your clients. We provide qualified and experienced mentors who are skilled at identifying barriers to progression, having a youth centered background and a passion for seeing potential realised in Children & Young people. So give Purpose For Living a call today, we might just be that missing link!

What is Mentoring?

Mentoring is the provision of one to one advice, guidance, support and encouragement, usually at a time of transition and typically over a period of time.

Who is Purpose For Living's Mentoring Solutions for?

We believe that Every Child Matters, therefore every child should be given the opportunity of having a mentor. Mentoring is for any child or young person who feels that they would benefit from  having a significant adult or peer who could befriend them and support them in their journey through transition or to help them establish and achieve a particular task or goal. This could be over a short Six to Twelve week term or for a more sustained period up to Twelve months or beyond.

PFL Mentoring can be arranged for children as young as 5 years old through to young adults up to 25 years old. Research has shown that most young people who are going through difficult circumstances have acknowledged that they would benefit from having the support of a mentor. Once a mentor has been matched and assigned to them, they are then known as the 'mentee'.

Mentors meet their mentees once a week or fortnightly for an hour or two at a location convenient for both participants, normally in borough. Generally for a minimum term of Six weeks through to Three months, or for longer periods over the course of a full year. Meetings will enable mentors to talk to young people about their achievements, their plans, their interests, careers, school and home life, and anything in between! There are no hard and fast rules. The most important element of the project is building a supportive partnership between mentor and mentee, which will provide an environment in which young people feel they can be themselves and in which they can work towards fulfilling their potential.

Meetings can take many forms. They may be informal chats, specific tasks (ie - help with homework) or activity sessions (taking part in sport, visiting a place of interest) Initially mentors and mentees get to know each other, build up trust and find out what they want to achieve. Mentoring is about setting goals, not just keeping someone company, but most of the time mentors provide a listening ear. The fact that mentors give their time and care about the young person makes a real difference.

Mentoring may involve introducing a young person to new ideas, challenges, and experiences and by doing this, helps to build their confidence and raise their self esteem. Allowing them to develop the skill of navigating obstacles and barriers to their goals, and future life journey. Mentors may give advice on school and education, managing money, or preparation for job applications and interviews. Mentors may take mentees somewhere new or share a hobby like music or sport. Mentors might introduce young people to new opportunities in education, training or employment, or visit a new school, library or Connexions centre with them.

For a variety of reasons, many people do not fulfill their full potential. Where an individual wants to overcome barriers to progression, PFL Mentoring can provide support and guidance to give individuals the confidence to access relevant services.

PFL's Mentoring expertise lies in acknowledging the long-term and underlying support needs of people who feel frustrated by their under-achievement. PFL Mentors are able to take the time to develop an understanding of the variety of needs of PFL Mentoring service users and to work with them on a long-term basis to build confidence, motivation and to work towards achievable goals. A PFL Mentor will:

TRUANTS AND EXCLUSIONS

PFL Mentoring works with young people who are not attending school. Trained staff will work with these young people to motivate and support them back into mainstream education.

Mentors may be asked to provide the following types of support:-

Young people about to leave care face a variety of issues. By supporting them through this transitional period PFL Mentors help them gain life and independent living skills. Some of these young people are encouraged to go on to become mentors themselves.

Trained staff and volunteers would work with the young person before and after leaving care. The types of support provided include:-

The support needs of young people when they leave custody are varied. Often the most important among these are accommodation and benefits. The weeks immediately following release are when the young person is at their most vulnerable. PFL Mentors can provide an extremely valuable lifeline at this time and after.

Once immediate needs are dealt with PFL Mentors supported by volunteer mentors, can assist resettlement and reduce the risk of re-offending by addressing other issues and identifying long-term goals, such as:-

PFL's Mentoring solutions work with those in custody includes both male and female young offenders. The Project offers guidance and support to improve the long-term prospects of individuals to move towards their goal of employment.

Employment is a key factor in reducing re-offending thereby by addressing training, education and employment needs. PFL Mentoring aims to increase employability and support individuals into suitable, sustainable employment. This might include:-

Most convicted offenders serve their sentence in the community. The Probation Service and Youth Offending Teams provide these services. PFL Mentoring works closely with these agencies to motivate and support the ex-offender. This assists in the completion of the community sentence. Failure to do so may result in a custodial sentence.

PFL Mentoring provides people serving community orders general support and often assist youth justice practitioners or Probation officers with running courses. Support can include:-

PFL Mentoring supports refugees and asylum seekers to help them integrate into the community.

The types of support PFL Mentors & volunteers might be asked to provide refugees and asylum seekers are:

One of the main contributory factors in social exclusion is homelessness. PFL Mentoring works to obtain accommodation for homeless people by working with local authorities, housing associations and private landlords. Close liaison is also required with homeless units and benefits agencies.

Once a homeless person is housed, ongoing support may be required to address the underlying causes of their homelessness and to reduce the potential for losing their accommodation.  PFL Mentoring works with homeless people and includes:

The law requires that all young people who the police wish to interview are entitled to have an adult present. Where a parent or guardian is not available the police may call upon an appropriate adult to be present. PFL Mentoring provides Appropriate Adult Services. These are adults who are trained to look after the best interests of the young person but who are independent of the legal process. The service is available at all times.

An advocate is someone who a young person can confide in about their care. Staff and volunteers are trained to visit young people regularly to discuss any issues they may have. The advocate can act on behalf of the young person and represent their concerns to the appropriate agencies and ensure that their rights are voiced and respected. The Mentor is a role model and someone who builds the confidence to enable the young person to talk freely.

Many people need help with basic skills such as reading and writing. PFL Mentoring supplies trained mentors who work alongside basic skills training providers. It is widely acknowledged that one of the main contributors to disadvantage is a lack of basic skills. This disadvantage is often compounded by a lack of willingness to admit to a basic skills need. The involvement of a volunteer enables a one-to-one relationship to develop with an individual who has been identified as having basic skills needs. The Mentor will provide, practical, emotional and educational support to the person.

As part of restorative justice PFL Mentoring provides reparation and mediation services for offenders and the victims of crime. The views of the victims of crime are central to these services. A PFL Mentoring Reparation and Mediation Service will work separately with the offender and the victim to develop a course action that encourages the offender to appreciate the effects of their actions on the victim and the community. The victim has the opportunity to explain the impact of the crime on his/her life and how they feel the offender could make reparation.

PFL Mentoring works with offenders preparing to return from custody to their community. Support continues after their release to ensure a smooth return to society and help reduce re-offending. Mentors regularly meet offenders and ex-offenders to help address resettlement needs such as housing, basic skills, training, employment, budgeting, benefits, health, family and any other issues likely to impact on successful resettlement.

PFL Mentoring will work with families where a family member or the whole family is in need of the support. This may be in cases where the actions of an individual family member is having, or has had an impact on the whole family or the effects of a family on the community. PFL's Mentoring staff and volunteers can provide tailor-made support to address the needs of families who are effected by such things as crime, barriers to integration, poverty.

PFL Mentoring acts as a focus to promote volunteering and good citizenship through its Millennium Volunteers Scheme. It encourages people to volunteer to support their community. From its knowledge of voluntary bodies in the area it directs people to the right volunteering opportunities according to their skills, knowledge and interests.

PFL Mentoring provides bespoke training for Mentors, Peer Mentors and Young Community & Business Leaders. We can come to the client's address if convenient, host the training at our premises or provide training at the clients preferred venue.