Ment4 provides one-to-one specialist mentoring for 12 to 17 year olds with emotional and behavioural difficulties. We help those vulnerable to crime and those on court orders. We also help long-term non-attendees, those excluded from schools and Pupil Referral Units, those judged as particularly vulnerable by social services, and direct referrals from families.

We run four to six month programmes where mentors meet two or three times a week with their assigned young people, one-on-one, working through problematic thinking and helping them to achieve measurable written goals. The amount of time we spend with each young person helps us identify causes of major problems and behavioural responses, and to address them with parents, schools, peers and other agencies. For those caught up in crime, we help them discover positive alternatives to wrong practices. For those struggling in education, we help identify causes of difficulties and work with teaching staff to build long-term stability in behaviour and attendance. And alongside that, we always work closely with families, giving them support, encouragement and coaching boundaries, where necessary. Practically speaking, our days can involve attending court meetings, meeting teachers, setting up training and employment appointments, and chatting time and again over milkshakes and air hockey tables. Through these, we build trust, respect, opportunities and hope for the future. For further information please look up on the web:  www.ment4.org. Alternatively ask Audrey Stanley about it as it is her son, Peter, who is the Director and Trustee of Ment4. He will be attending our charity coffee morning on 21st October and will speak briefly about his work so please do come and bring a friend and make the morning a great success.

Avril Ashford