For immediate help at any time, please call us on 03300 564456 (24 hour)
For immediate help at any time, please call us on 03300 564456 (24 hour)
Mentoring programmes are delivered by Cyfannol Women’s Aid in Monmouthshire and Torfaen, as part of a BBC Children in Need-funded programme, and in Blaenau Gwent and Newport, as part of the Ar Trac project.
These programmes rely on volunteers, who commit to two hours per week to mentor a child aged 5-11 on a one-to-one basis, taking them out once a week for a year for between two and four hours. Mentors will be matched with children based on compatibility in their interests, skills, and personalities.
The children referred into these programmes have witnessed domestic abuse in their young lives. The aim of the mentoring programme is to increase their self-esteem, encouraging a change in the way they view themselves and others, and helping them find a safe way to express themselves.
In Torfaen and Monmouthshire, BBC Children in Need-funded mentoring for 11-16 year-old boys is facilitated through a small group over 12 weeks. Projects undertaken through these sessions include outdoor survival skills workshops and creative activities, such as music- and film-making.
This special group project gives older children some problem-free time, with a solution-focused approach to build on their identity and prepare them to develop into confident, caring young men.
For group-based support for boys in Blaenau Gwent and Newport, please see the Group Support page.
1:1 sessions could involve going to museums go into the park playing sport cooking together or anything that will engage and infuse the child.
Limited budgets ensure meaningful as opposed to ‘treat’ activities.
Mentors work in a solution focused way to encourage children to find their strengths and make positive changes
Cyfannol Women’s Aid, the mentor, child, and parent set three goals for the child to work towards.
Mentors work towards a positive ending, which is marked by a graduation ceremony.
Our mentors help children find motivation and interests, develop life skills and channel their energy into projects that encourage a sense of personal achievement. They are a person of consistency for the child; someone who they can have fun and try new things with.
Mentoring can have a positive long-term effect on children, by improving:
Confidence
Concentration
Relationship With Peers
Academic Progress
Understanding of the consequences of their actions
of the children went from having significant behavioural difficulties (in the abnormal range) to having no significant behavioural difficulties
of the children had no behavioural difficulties at the end of the intervention (well within the “normal” range)
It was nice having a grown up I didn’t have to share with my sisters. I could talk to them about things. He’d give me good advice, like not to fight. I really don’t know why I got into fights at school. It got me in trouble with my teachers and they would write to my mum. She says I’m happier now.
To refer into one of these services, make an enquiry or find out more, call us on 03300 564456 or e-mail your local office:
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