Mentoring for young people thanks to Co-op Foundation
Thanks to funding from the Co-op Foundation, we’re setting up a unique project to help primary pupils settle into secondary school.
We’re going to use the £67,885 funding to set up an innovative peer mentoring programme within Burnside Business and Enterprise College, North Tyneside which is expected to benefit more than 1,000 young people over two years.
The Co-op Foundation awarded the grant as part of a £3m extension to its #iwill Fund, designed to empower young people to improve spaces, wellbeing and skills.
Luke Bramhall, our School Research and Delivery Manager, said: “We’re delighted to have received this funding and to be embarking on this work with Burnside Business and Enterprise College and its feeder primary schools.
“The step up to secondary education is an important stage in young people’s lives and we hope this project will lead to a smoother transition for primary pupils and provide secondary peer mentors with valuable life skills, alongside inspiring them in social action.”
Charlotte Jenkins, Deputy Headteacher at Burnside Business and Enterprise College, added:
“We are excited to continue our work with Children North East and for some years now we have been working towards ensuring students are ready for their arrival at secondary school and that they feel they can contribute positively within the school and wider community.
“This unique project will allow those younger students to benefit from mentorship and guidance from our sixth form peer mentors who consistently prove how excellent they are as role models. It will be great to see them working together and hopefully increasing engagement in extracurricular activities as well as their learning in school.”
About the #iwill Fund
The #iwill Fund is a £50 million joint investment from the National Lottery Community Fund, using National Lottery funding, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities. The Co-op Foundation acts as a match funder.
Co-op Foundation is the Co-op’s charity. It helps people challenge inequality and co-operate for change so they can share a fairer future.Subscribe to the Co-op Foundation blog to find out first when funding applications open: www.coopfoundation.org.uk/blog.