Just two hours of your time each week could be enough to change a young person’s life, says Carol Sandiford.
The program director of Raise, a youth mentoring program, points out that one in four young people are unhappy with their lives, with suicide the leading cause of death in people aged between 15 and 24.
But having a mentor, someone a young person can look up to and turn to for guidance, is the best way to help them from disengaging from school, their family and friends, she says.
This year Raise will recruit 30 new mentors to work with at-risk Sunshine College students.
“We saw lots of significant differences in young people’s resilience, also in their school grades, their relationship with friends and attendance,” Ms Sandiford says about students who worked with mentors last year at the school.
She isn’t the only one to notice a difference in the students as a result.
Student wellbeing leader Trudy Whiteside says the Raise program has enabled students to feel “part of something”, and gives them a sense of belonging.
“It made students think about their own goals and how to achieve them,” she says.
To sign up to mentor a young person, go online to www.raise.org.au or call 0406412376.
