Liam McNally
Big Brothers Big Sisters Australia (BBBS) is seeking volunteer mentors to meet “overwhelming” demand for the program’s expansion into Melbourne’s West.
BBBS supports at-risk young people through long term, one on one mentoring in which young people aged seven to 17 are matched with a mentor to spend one to two hours a week with for a minimum of 12 months.
Mentors spend their time with young people doing activities specific to the young person’s interests, and provide a safe environment to help build confidence and resilience.
Noah (13) said he has enjoyed the six months he’s spent with his mentor Anton.
“It has been good because I get to hang out with Anton and I get to learn things from him. We play soccer and basketball and we go out for ice cream,” he said.
“Once we went to WynCity and we got to play bowling and arcade games and I loved that, I thought it was really fun.”
BBBS chief executive Mark Watt said the organisation has a wait list of over 50 young people waiting to be paired with mentors across Melton, Brimbank, Wyndham and Hobsons Bay.
“We’ve been operating for many years in Melbourne but we’ve just started a new program in the western suburbs… We started about six months ago and we found the need for BBBS mentoring overwhelming,” he said.
“It’s really as easy as developing a friendship with a young person and doing positive activities… activities for young people just wanting to spend time with someone, and have someone in their lives.
“We find the outcome is often a young person gaining confidence, gaining social skills, reducing their fears, their anxiety, and really just participating more in the community, and in healthier activities.”
Details: bigbrothersbigsisters.org.au/
