Deputy Minister praises social inclusion role of mentoring and befriending

1st December 2008

The importance of mentoring and befriending as a vehicle for developing social cohesion was spelt out by the Deputy Minister for the North East Region Roberta Blackman-Woods at a major regional stakeholders conference in Darlington.

Addressing over 80 delegates including project practitioners and volunteers, commissioners and funders, the MP for Durham praised the work of the mentoring and befriending community in England saying it was extremely relevant to much of the government’s social inclusion agenda and to the Public Service Agreement which aims to increase the proportion of socially excluded adults in settled accommodation and employment, education or training.

She said:

“We know the service you offer helps people face and hopefully cope with life challenges including learning new skills and building new capacities and confidence.

“I also thought it pertinent that mentors and befrienders are drawn from all ages 18 – 70+ and that many who are mentored go on to become mentors themselves – surely a vote of confidence that it works.

“The range of settings in which you operate is also impressive – you work in schools and colleges in support of young people who are at risk from exclusion in society, in community schemes also – often helping refugees, older people and lone parents and in business and the workplace designed to support personal and professional development.

“But crucially the work of the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation also supports the delivery of Public Service Agreement 21 for more empowered, cohesive and active communities by helping those who find it most difficult to make their voices heard to play a greater role in the community in which they live.

Other speakers at the Darlington conference included Pat Lowes, Regional Policy Manager to BIG Lottery Fund, Ian Dodds of Government Office North East, John Egan of the Learning and Skills Council, Richard Walton of Northern Rock Foundation and Suzzane Henderson of ONE North East, the regional development agency.

Richard Walton said that despite Northern Rock’s recent difficulties, the Northern Rock Foundation, the charity arm of the bank, would continue its policy of funding social inclusion projects aimed at reducing the level of re-offending together with other interventions in the support of people with mental health problems and carers.

Delegates also heard the first hand experiences of service users including a homeless teenager, an ex offender and a woman with learning difficulties living in supported housing.
All had been helped through mentoring or befriending programmes designed to give support and confidence building.

The event was the first in a series of stakeholder conferences to be held around the country by the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation, the national strategic body which promotes best practice and provides a national and regional resource for voluntary and community projects involved in the practice of mentoring and befriending in schools and across the public sector.

Steve Matthews, Deputy Chief Executive of the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation said:

“These events are part of the ongoing work to engage regional stakeholders, commissioners and funders in mentoring and befriending activity and build ongoing relationships.

“Our key message is to demonstrate how mentoring and befriending are meeting local and regional priorities and impacting positively on communities.”

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