Posted on 17/07/2023

A mentors story ……..

I became a mentor for Mentor link some years ago and have seen quite a few young children — they come and go — mature , change school , home , county and you hope that in a little way you may have helped . Inevitably you do not see them again and as our training has taught us you move on to the next. I was very fortunate to encounter a young woman recently that the charity had helped — she approached me to thank me for what the charity had done. I met her when one of my mentees mentioned she had a friend who needed help and that her friend was very unhappy, not eating and home situation was difficult. I was persuaded by my mentee to allow her to join us at the next session we had. The young girl turned up and I could tell it was a serious situation and persuaded the school and Mentor link that I could see her. The Safeguarding teacher was amazing — she personally took the child to the GP and the pupil was referred as an emergency to CAMHS in Worcester. She was in a poor state and was admitted to Worcester hospital — quite suicidal – and I did visit her until she was discharged. I lost contact as she was no longer in school.

The really good news is that when I bumped into her, I saw that she is now a healthy young girl about to get a first at university. The other good thing is she remembers how the charity helped her during the difficult and dark times.

We urgently need more mentors and if you can help a young person, please contact Enquiries@mentorlink.org.uk