Home Secretary and MP Jacqui Smith meets local charity Mentor Link

Sheila Matthews, Jacqui Smith Home Secretary and MP, Andrea Maddocks and Wilf Talbot with children from the school council at Ipsley Middle School

Home Secretary and MP Jacqui Smith met with Trustees and staff of children’s charity Mentor Link at Ipsley Middle School. The charity formed in Bewdley six years ago, recently received lottery funding and is looking for new schools to provide a mentoring service to in the Redditch area. Jacqui Smith writes, "I was really impressed with the idea behind Mentor Link and the practical and professional approach of those involved. From what I have seen, I think that they can make a very significant contribution to School life generally and the young people they work with individually."

Mentor Link was started in February 2002 at Bewdley High School as a local voluntary project by Andrea Maddocks. In November 2004 it obtained charitable status and now offers it services to 10 schools in the Wyre Forest and Worcestershire with 140 volunteer mentors helping 190 pupils per week. The aim of the charity is to recruit, volunteer mentors to local schools who will come into school each week to listen to, support and encourage young adults who may be experiencing difficulties in education. These issues can include bullying, poor behaviour, family separation, illness or low motivation and mentoring offers a way of discussing these issues with an independent adult.

Helga Siviter with Hayley Saunders who says “It has helped me because it is someone to talk to and we have become friends.”

Mentor Link is a non-profit making organisation and relies on grants and donations to continue it's invaluable service to schools and young people in Worcestershire. For further information please contact us via the contact us link from this web page.

To make a donation to Mentor Link please click the button below that takes you to PayPal:

(We also operate a scheme through "easyfundraising.org.uk" that helps raise funds for us everytime you shop or search using the links to the left of this page)