Mentor Link offers long-term, weekly, one-to-one social and emotional listening support to disadvantaged and vulnerable children by providing them with a mentor. We professionally and safely recruit and train local volunteers to become mentors and offer weekly support to children in need, either in a school or community setting. They are recruited based on demand from their area, and our Recruiters match referrals with mentors that are local to them. The charity's aim is to support young people with their mental-health and wellbeing, and give them an adult role-model to offer reassurance, stability and guidance during difficult times in their lives, helping them to achieve positive changes both personally and educationally. Support is provided at a critical point and reduces anxiety and isolation during uncertain periods; as a result, the demand for our service is currently higher than ever following the impact of Covid-19.
Funding from The Pixel Fund will support us hugely by covering the cost of 10 vulnerable young people to be mentored for 6 months. Ultimately the aim is to provide this mentoring support for longer than 6 months, but this funding is crucial to enable these referrals to be addressed and mentoring support offered asap whilst our service is returning to normal capacity following the impact of Covid.