Mayor announces plans to provide mentor for every young Londoner

• Young Londoners in need of support will have access to a personal mentor by 2024 as part of London’s New Deal for Young People
  
• City Hall and London’s Violence Reduction Unit will invest £7.2 million to boost mentoring capacity now
  
• The Mayor and London boroughs are working with community groups to help young people most in need fulfil their potential

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Chair of London Councils, Georgia Gould, have today announced that every young Londoner in need of support will have access to a personal mentor by 2024 – one of his key manifesto pledges.

This will be delivered as part of a New Deal for Young People, with City Hall, London boroughs, community groups and others across the city working in partnership to put young Londoners at the heart of the recovery from the pandemic.

The commitment is to provide access to a dedicated mentor to young Londoners who are most in need of support and who face the biggest challenges to reaching their potential. This includes children who have been excluded from school or college, those who are impacted by exploitation, young Londoners who are impacted by domestic violence or living in poverty, and those involved in the care system. Overall, there are roughly 100,000 young people in London who face these kinds of challenges.

Sadiq is kickstarting the action by announcing £7.2 million of investment from City Hall. The new funding will expand the mentoring offer in the capital now, helping young Londoners most in need get the help and support they deserve to reach their potential.

The new fund consists of £4.8 million for three programmes that will boost mentoring capacity and build on the incredible work already happening across London. It will expand mentoring for young people, including in science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, and support local organisations to provide training and work experience.^[2]

Alongside this, the Mayor has announced today that London’s Violence Reduction Unit, which he set up in 2019, will invest £2.4m in a three-year mentoring programme. The new investment will build on the VRU’s determination to tackle school exclusions by investing in effective mentoring programmes to keep pupils in Pupil Referral Units, engaged in their education, motivated and supported to achieve their goals.

Young Londoners have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with a third either losing their jobs or being furloughed, compared to one in six older adults. ^[1] Far too many young people are working in insecure jobs with many on temporary or zero-hour contracts. Many more have seen training, education and employment opportunities reduce significantly in the last 20 months, making the need for support more important than ever to prevent increasing numbers of young Londoners being left vulnerable to exploitation or getting sucked into gangs and violence.

Throughout the pandemic, through City Hall, London Councils and London boroughs’ networks, young people and youth practitioners have championed the importance of a trusted personal relationship in transforming a young person’s life.

Today, the Mayor visited the Osmani Trust in Blackwell Reach to see first-hand how some of the Mayor’s investment is working to support mentoring for young people in Tower Hamlets.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m determined to put young people at the heart of London’s recovery efforts and I’m proud to be delivering on my manifesto pledge to give every young Londoner in need access to a dedicated mentor by 2024.

“This will not only help prevent vulnerable young Londoners from being exploited or sucked into gangs and violence, but provide a helping hand for Londoners to reach their potential.

“Working in partnership with London Councils and boroughs, community groups, the youth sector and others across our city, I’m determined to ensure that every young Londoner in need of support has the positive opportunities and role model they deserve. This will play a critical part in helping us build a safer, fairer and more prosperous city, where no-one is left behind.”

Councillor Georgia Gould, Chair of London Councils, said: “With four in ten of London’s children living in poverty, working with trusted and inspiring adult mentors can help children and young people navigate some of the challenges that they face and go on to achieve their goals.

“The commitment to provide a trusted mentor to every young Londoner in need of support is fantastic and builds upon the work that councils in London have been doing in their local communities. Today’s announcement means that even more young people will be able to benefit from the nurturing, guidance and support that a mentoring relationship can provide.”

Lib Peck, Director of London’s VRU, said: “It’s crucial that young people are put at the very heart of our recovery efforts.

“We’ve heard from young people and frontline practitioners of how a mentor can provide critical and consistent support, and help them in education, training, employment and the challenges young people face.

“Headteachers in Pupil Referral Units have also told us of the support mentors provided vulnerable young people during the pandemic and that’s why we’re committed to investing more because we know when done well, mentoring keeps young people engaged in their education, motivated and supported to achieve their goals.”

Zakaria Hussain, Programme Manager, Osmani Trust, Tower Hamlets Island Community Network, (THICN) said: “Irrespective of the four walls here at Osmani Trusts Youth Space at The Reach, the relationships between young people and youth workers are key to ensuring every young person’s starting point is acknowledged and their needs put first.

“Mentoring alongside a broad range of activities instil in young people the values they need to flourish in their communities and society. Too many young people have had difficult lived experiences and face barriers and challenges to their achievement across Tower Hamlets and London – this has been made worse by the pandemic which has further widened the gap in relation to educational attainment, future prospects and employment opportunities available.

“That’s why the announcement of The New Deal for Young people is a massive commitment to young people and Londoners. This funding showcases the value and importance of youth workers, youth work and mentoring and I am pleased this funding will allow young people to continue to engage in positive activities with relationships being built with role models in the community steering our next generation and future, forwards.”