Emma became a Friendship Works' mentor at the start of 2010 and has been matched with Matthew ever since.

"I come from a large family and I’m used to looking after my nieces and nephews. When I moved to London to start a new job, I missed having them around so I decided to start volunteering. I came across the Friendship Works website and was impressed by its mentoring scheme with its promise to commit to a minimum of two years for each child.

"I applied to be a mentor and after an in-depth interview with the supportive caseworkers at Friendship Works, I was invited along to a training weekend to meet other volunteers. The training was really informative and it was great to meet like-minded people, as well as hearing about the scheme from a parent and young person’s perspectives. Any nerves I may have had disappeared as the caseworkers reassured me how they would be there every step of the way to make sure that my match was a compatible one.

"Friendship Works puts an incredible amount of effort into finding the right match for each child they support, and I was matched with Matthew. A naturally shy ten year old boy, Matthew was known for always wearing the hood of his jacket up to cover his face. He was quite nervous when we first met, but we made a list of suggestions and started off with simple things like going to the cinema.

"Over the next few weeks and months, our relationship developed slowly, but I started to see small changes in Matthew that showed he was growing in confidence. He hardly spoke, so one of the high points was after six months, when he said ‘thank you’ to me for getting him a travel card application form. It’s these things that showed me how beneficial it was to be a mentor, seeing Matthew’s confidence blossom.

"Even though he still likes to have a rigid routine during our time together, he can now get on a bus without being so nervous, which he could never do before, and doesn’t always have his hood up so he’s more visible than he used to be. He also started to swear; something that doesn’t seem like a positive thing, but when I asked him why he was using these words, he said proudly, “it’s because I’m more confident now”.

"Matthew’s a lot more comfortable going out and even shares things with me like who he has a crush on at school. An imaginative child with a great head for stories, I admire his ability to challenge himself and do things he would never have thought of doing, such as speaking to prospective volunteers on Friendship Works training courses.

"Now that I’ve met Matthew, I can’t imagine not knowing him. Becoming a mentor with Friendship Works has not only introduced me to new people, it has been one of the most fun and rewarding things I’ve ever done in my life."