Stakeholder conference to debate role of mentoring and befriending in meeting regional priorities

20th November 2008

Stakeholders, commissioners and funders will outline their support for the practice of mentoring and befriending at a conference in Darlington next week. This event will engage regional decision makers with practitioners and service users including ex-offenders, adults with learning difficulties and disaffected young people.

The Darlington conference will showcase the positive impact of mentoring and befriending programmes in the North East and how they fit into regional priorities and Local Area Agreements.

Speakers will include representatives of BIG Lottery Fund, the Learning and Skills Council, Government Office North East, Northern Rock Foundation and ONE North East as well as Roberta Blackman-Woods, Deputy Minister for the North East.

There are more than 400 mentoring and befriending projects in the North East meeting a range of social needs and next week’s conference at Darlington Football Arena will hear personal accounts of how mentoring or befriending programmes have helped to improve the quality of life for many people faced with difficulties and personal challenges

Dawn Robinson is an expectant mum yet gives at least an hour of her time each week to mentor young “at risk” people through a project which is part of the Northumbria Coalition Against Crime. She said:

“There is a great need for this type of project not just in the North East.

“There is a percentage of children from six upwards screaming out for someone to help them.”

A young woman from the 700 Club project in Darlington who became homeless at the age of 14 and an 18-year-old woman from the Odysseus mentoring programme in Newcastle who was often in trouble with the police will also address the conference telling how accessing a mentor helped them to overcome personal difficulties.

Northern Rock Foundation, which distributes £15m a year to social inclusion, arts and heritage projects, says it recognises the value of mentoring and befriending as one element of a number of support mechanisms towards reducing poverty and improving aspirations.

The Foundation also funds a number of befriending schemes to help people with learning difficulties, mental health problems and carers helping them to live in independently

Pat Lowes, Regional Policy and Partnership Manager for the BIG Lottery Fund, is among the speakers. She said:

“We have funded many organisations across the UK to deliver mentoring and befriending projects. The outcomes of these programmes reflect the outcomes we have as funders , for example offering people better chances in life and building stronger communities.”

The conference is hosted by the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation, the national strategic body which promotes mentoring and befriending in England.

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