Mentoring

Find out more about having a mentor

A mentor is an adult who wants to be your trusted friend.

They want to support you to make changes that matter to you.

They are a volunteer, they aren’t paid. They aren’t part of the council.

They give their time to do things with you, and help you achieve the things you want to achieve.

They are there for you.

Mentors can help in lots of ways:

Help you gain more confidence

Help you feel better about yourself

Help you deal with things when they go wrong

Help you do well at the things you want to do

Help you think about and plan for the future

You decide what you and your mentor do together and talk about. There is a big activity budget for you and your mentor to do things you enjoy. Some of the things other young people do include going for a walk, trampolining, bowling, watching a film at the cinema, grabbing a bite to eat, talking about your day, going shopping, watching a football match, going to events, going to the shows.

You do things you enjoy and have the chance to be listened to. You meet your mentor usually every two weeks.

Mentors are there for you for either a shorter time (like 3 to 6 months), or can be someone you meet for longer (like 2 years +). We will talk to you about what might be most helpful for you.

Our service is confidential unless we think you or another person is at risk of harm.

You let us know you’d like a mentor, either directly or through your social worker or carer.

If you contact us directly, we will speak to your social worker.

If you and your Social Worker are happy for you to have a mentor, we then meet you and find out a bit about you.

You tell us the sort of mentor you’d like. We try to match you with someone who shares your interests and meets your needs. We have volunteers of various ages, genders, ethnicities and with different interests – we try to make sure there’s someone for everyone.

If you are happy with the mentor, we suggest we arrange for you both to meet. We’re there for the first visit.

If you get on, and you want to keep seeing them, they’ll plan to meet you every few weeks for at least 3 months but up to 24 months or sometimes longer.
You’ll meet your mentor most weeks and usually at least once every two weeks.

What do other people think about having a mentor?

My volunteer is amazing… 10/10!!!!

- Beth, 7 years old

They’re nice and funny. I really like being matched with them. We do fun things together. I really trust them.

- Zach, 14 years old.

They’ve realy helped me feel better about myself and more positive about the future.

- Luke, 17 years old.

Get involved

You can get involved if you are under the care of Hartlepool Borough Council and are in care or have recently left care.

You might be in a foster placement or a children’s home. Even if you are in a placement outside of Hartlepool, providing Hartlepool Borough Council is responsible for you, you should be able to have a mentor.

When you contact us, please give us your name and your social worker’s name and a way in which we can contact you. We’ll take it from there.