What children, teachers and parents say about our service

Please don’t downplay your part in his progress. He loves seeing you and his eyes light up when you ring to speak to him.

Just a bit of news to give you. The results of his mind year maths exam were announced yesterday. Lol, top of the class again with a lowly 98%,

 

Please pass on my thanks to Bernie for all of her help and support; she certainly went over and above what could be expected in continuing to provide support within the home environment.

Engagement in learning and behaviour has been improved by the introduction of fidget toys and weekly objectives for behaviour and concentration.

I just wanted to say how happy we are with the work Tom has done with C. When Tom picked C up we had regular suspensions and I was afraid down the line C might be a candidate for a permanent exclusion.

I am delighted to say that C’s attitude towards school has improved no end as has his behaviour and this I am sure is in no little part due to the work Tom has done with him.

The lad has had a very tough start in life with limited positive guidance but just by giving him an hour a week for a few months, he started to see that he could make his life better. Just by giving him a gentle nudge in the right direction, he put himself forward for new opportunities and with each little success he increased in confidence.

This spurred him on to do more. By the time he had finished school he had become a prefect, won the schools end of year talent competition with his band, got a part time job and secured a place at Music college.

In my opinion, Mentor link is an incredible service. Because the volunteers are called ‘Mentors’, I feel that it creates a safe and comfortable place to open up and express yourself and your feelings without the burden of a stronger label, like counsellor or therapist, which can often scare young people away from accepting support, this makes the sessions much more encouraging, personal, and reassuring. I will always be grateful to Cathy and Mentor link for the extreme positive impact that it has had on me and my life. Thank you so much!

I would like to continue. It gives me a chance to be myself and be away from my classmates. I have learned about respect, listening, concentration and focus, team work, patience, standing still and being calm. I have learned that improvement comes with practice, that I can have an ability to bounce back and not be scared of things that aren’t real.

I know my mentor is there for me to share my feelings.

I liked being able to talk about my feelings.

I liked having someone who is not a teacher or a parent.

I liked private one to one meetings.

We are extremely grateful to Mentor Link for supporting our daughter through a very difficult and unhappy time at school. Mentor Link’s independence has been its main strength: not only is our daughter able to discuss the problems she has with school in complete confidence, but she can discuss issues she would rather not share with us either. The Mentor herself has been approachable, friendly and reliable and the advice is structured, practical and encouraging. Mentor Link has helped our daughter to regain confidence and a positive attitude to school life. Thank you again.