What is mentoring?

Research shows that just one reliable adult in a child’s life can have a big impact on their resilience, life chances and future wellbeing. We want to give children the chance to enjoy their childhood, to access new opportunities, to feel safe where their lives are chaotic and unsettled, and to reach their full potential.

Friendship Works is about being there for someone on their journey through life. Understanding them, listening to them, encouraging and supporting them. Making them feel worthwhile, building their confidence and helping them to believe in themselves. Being a positive role model.

Mentoring really works to change lives. Our volunteers get an enormous amount out of knowing they are directly helping a child, their family, and the community they live in. And their support gives struggling children the strength to cope with the challenges they face.

Most importantly, mentoring is about helping others to grow, whether it developing life skills, learning how to deal with tough situations or just sharing experiences with someone who can listen and understand.

We want to establish mentoring at the heart of communities across London. Because every child deserves to fulfil their potential.

Life-support

Our mentors are all volunteers who give their time for free. Our volunteers meet up regularly with the child they support for a few hours. They commit to a friendship of two years, which gives them the chance to build a strong friendship and have a long-term impact on a life. Many end up becoming lifelong friends.

We look for volunteers who are both passionate and have the right skills to help a child. They are positive and motivated, flexible, tolerant, open-minded, good humoured and resilient. They are patient and actively want to make a difference to the life of a child. They have full training and specialist support. We match volunteers and children carefully to make sure that they have shared interests and qualities.

Find out more about becoming a mentor and helping a child. Visit our volunteer section, where you can also apply online, or download a volunteer information pack.