Charity appeals for mentors for teenagers in care

Bianca Nelson said working with her mentee has give her a sense of purpose

A charity that helps children and young people who have experience of being in care has appealed for volunteer mentors.

The Break Charity said it was looking for mentors for ten youngsters in the area of King's Lynn, Norfolk.

The mentors, who need to be over the age of 21, would be asked to commit to a year of supporting a young person with regular meetings, in which they can share life skills and try new activities.

Maren Albrigtsen, the charity's mentoring lead, said, in particular, those leaving care at the age of 18 benefit from having positive and caring role models.

Maren Albrigtsen said there are 10 young people waiting to be matched with a mentor

Liam, 23, said the experience of having to leave his children's home on his 18th birthday was really challenging.

He was matched with his mentor, Mark, a year ago and he said it has been one of the best things he has ever done.

"The one-to-one aspect of being with him really helps. [Mark] was a school teacher and now he works with children at an outdoor activity centre.

"One thing I love about Mark is we both really love football. So it's much easier to start a conversation with him than with someone who doesn't like football.

"It's scary at first because you don't know the person. But now it's working really well for me."

After being matched with a young person, mentors will have supervised sessions with Break staff while everyone gets to know each other.

Mutually beneficial

Bianca Nelson is a volunteer mentor with the charity, which works across East Anglia.

Ms Nelson said anyone who wants to do something useful with their spare time should think about applying.

"We meet up monthly or every other month and do all sorts of things.

"Sometimes we'd have a bit of lunch, perhaps doing something more practical, like a food shop, or there are even nicer things, like we just had a day out to Hunstanton.

"We went to the Sea Life Centre, got chips and ice cream because it was a special occasion, my mentees birthday".

Ms Nelson said the young people supported by Break do not always have adults in their lives who they can rely on.

"I'm very grateful for the upbringing that I had and I felt like I could bring something to a young person's life, offering them that constant support," she added.

Ms Albrigtsen said they want to match the young people in the King's Lynn area as soon as possible.

"We definitely want it to be a mutually beneficial relationship.

"After you are matched with a young person we do ask for a year commitment, because we want to give that young person the consistency.

"They've had a lot of people drop in and out of their lives so we want to provide a bit more stability for them."