Befriending and Mentoring
Befriending
Lots of children and young people have enjoyed the support of a befriender. Normally, a befriender is an adult who will meet with you regularly to get to know you and do activities together. A befriender can help you to become more confident and get involved with activities that you are interested in.
Mentoring
Mentoring can help you to set and meet specific goals. These can be for things like school, friendships or when you leave school, like training or employment. The mentor will help you to set goals and develop skills to achieve them.
Mentoring services match you with a mentor; sometimes, this will be based on the things you are interested in. Often, mentors are adults, but sometimes they can also be older young people.
North East
YMCA Edinburgh - Intandem mentoring
YMCA Edinburgh offers a mentoring service to young people between eight and 14 years old who are care-experienced. This means they do not live with their parents or have lots of support from Social Workers. This can also include children who are looked after by someone else in your family, like a brother, sister or grandparent.
Intandem matches you with a mentor who will meet you regularly to get to know you, spend time doing fun activities together and offer you support when you feel you might need extra help or just someone to listen. As well as time with your mentor, there are regular group activities available, and the support is really flexible - some people have been meeting with their mentor every week for years, whilst others might just feel meeting every couple of weeks for a few months is enough.
Visit the YMCA Edinburgh website for more information or contact
0131 553 7877
YMCA - PlusOne Mentoring
YMCA Edinburgh offers a mentoring service to young people between eight and 14 years old who may be at risk of offending. It is a community service, based in the YMCA, which uses volunteers to work one-to-one with young people in North Edinburgh. Plusone uses the skills and life experiences of local volunteer mentors to engage young people in their local community.
For more information visit the YMCA Website or contact
07936 928 805
North West
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South West
Space@ Broomhouse Hub youth befriending
Offering support to children and young people aged between five and 16 years who have experienced drug and/or alcohol use by parents or are experiencing difficulties that they may need support with.
Befriending gives children and young people the chance to meet a volunteer befriender once a week for two to three hours who can support and encourage them to explore new activities, find fresh interests and hobbies, helping to build confidence and self-esteem, improve social skills, and make friends out with their peer group through an individualised programme.
For more information visit Space@ Broomhouse Hub website or contact
youthbefriending@spacescot.org
South East
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Citywide
Ruby Boots Project
It can be difficult when parents and carers leave the armed forces. Children and young people can experience a loss of connection and find the changes difficult. Ruby Boots is a school-based peer group mentorship project for children and young people from the armed forces community aged five to 18 years. offering one to one support as well as the chance to train up as a buddy so they can support peers going through a similar experience. The programme aims to build confidence and support children and young people to feel they are seen and heard within their school and community.
Referrals can be made by children, young people and families or with the support of someone at school by completing the Ruby Boots referral form.
For more information visit the Ruby Boots Project website or contact
rubyboots@forceschildrenscotland.org.uk
Firsthand Lothian Mentoring
If you have a disability or have a brother or sister with a disability Firsthand Lothian can help you to identify and achieve personal goals with help from one of their mentors. They offer support to children and young people up to 16 years old. The mentor will support you one-to-one to get out of your house and do things you enjoy.
For more information contact
0131 523 1322
Positive Help befriending service
HIV and Hepatitis C are serious health issues. It can be really hard living with others who are coping with these illnesses. If you are aged between five and 18 years and living with an adult who has HIV or Hepatitis C, Positive Help Befriending can give you support and time-out to do things you enjoy. The befrienders understand how difficult it is to live with HIV or Hepatitis C and will help you to have fun activities to support your wellbeing.
For more information visit the Positive Help Befriending Service website or contact
admin@positivehelpedinburgh.co.uk
0131 225 4766