Chance UK For some young people, having a mentor is a lifeline. Mentors can give stability to a young person with a broken home life, help them cope with challenges and stressful situations and open their eyes to education and job opportunities.

NPC's report, Lean on me, tells donors how to spot a good mentoring programme and explores which approaches work well and which don't.

Did you know?

Poorly-run mentoring schemes can end up doing more harm than good. Success rests largely on building a stable and responsible relationship between the mentor and mentee
Ernest Hemingway and Leonardo Da Vinci were both famous figures with mentors.

The report highlights effective mentoring schemes, that include:

investment in training and support for the mentors
regular contact between mentor and mentee over a sustained period of time, and
mentors working with the families of their mentees.

‘A child told one of our charities: "In my last school I was really, really bad and I got excluded four times … for hitting a teacher with a chair, punching a teacher in the head, fighting and throwing a chair through the window … I normally meet Janine every Tuesday or Wednesday or Monday to talk to see what I have done at school … Mentors help you control your temper and they take you out places and it helps you in school."’
Clare Yeowart, Research analyst

Charity insight

“Each year 5,200 under-18s are sent to prison and a further 2,900 begin a community sentence.''

CHANCE UK runs a year-long mentoring programme for children at risk of turning to crime. A quarter of the children it works with come from households involved in crime.