Mentors needed to help young people in their final year of school through business and education partnership

EBP South is asking for people who live or work in Portsmouth and Fareham from different backgrounds and industries to step forward and mentor young people in their final year at schools.

The young people at the heart of this partnership between business and education will have been put forward for mentoring for a range of reasons, including lack of confidence, disengagement with school, or not having the right support at home.

Lindsey McHugh, marketing officer at EBP South, said: ‘Mentoring is a very rewarding experience for mentors as they see the direct benefit of helping young people to succeed in their final years at school.

‘We have found people have become mentors because some people want to give back or many wish they had had a mentor or their children had had a mentor when they were in school to help keep them focused.’

Mentors are carefully matched to the mentees to ensure both parties get the best out of the experience.

Sarah, a mentor, said: ‘Thank you for the opportunity to be a mentor, it was a fantastic programme which I felt both my mentee and myself benefitted from.

‘My mentee has so many responsibilities at home and at school. I help him to balance them.’

As volunteers, mentors meet with their mentee for an hour a week during term time, and training and support is provided.

EBP South’s mentoring programme has supported hundreds of young people on the south coast.

Find out more at ebpsouth.co.uk/mentoring-opportunities.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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