Lean on me: Mentoring for young people at risk

For some young people, having a mentor is a lifeline. Mentors can give stability to a young person with a broken home life, help them cope with challenges and stressful situations and open their eyes to education and job opportunities.

NPC’s report tells donors how to spot a good mentoring programme and explores which approaches work well and which don’t.

Did you know?

  • Poorly-run mentoring schemes can end up doing more harm than good. Success rests largely on building a stable and responsible relationship between the mentor and mentee
  • Ernest Hemingway and Leonardo Da Vinci were both famous figures with mentors.

The report highlights effective mentoring schemes, that include:

  • investment in training and support for the mentors
  • regular contact between mentor and mentee over a sustained period of time, and
  • mentors working with the families of their mentees.

In my last school I was really, really bad and I got excluded four times … I normally meet Janine every Tuesday or Wednesday or Monday to talk to see what I have done at school … Mentors help you control your temper and they take you out places and it helps you in school.

A child helped by one of the charities in the report

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