We work with educational settings to improve outcomes for young people, as well as kick-starting positive change for the settings themselves. Through a bespoke programme of targeted support, we aim to re-engage vulnerable and hard-to-reach young people across Schools, PRUs, Virtual Schools and alternative settings.
We have seen first-hand how many families and young people in the community are struggling, through no fault of their own. Trauma, socio-economic hardship, addiction, domestic violence – they can all have devastating consequences for families. Our Social Outreach Mentoring programme aims to help them see a positive way forward, and begin taking steps towards the futures they want.
Looked After Children are facing possibly the worst projected outcomes of all young people. We want to change that. Our Challenging Me Mentoring programme can help improve outcomes for this vulnerable population, with targeted interventions and support that aims to empower them to take control of their own destinies.
We work with educational settings to improve outcomes for young people, as well as kick-starting positive change for the settings themselves. Through a bespoke programme of targeted support, we aim to re-engage vulnerable and hard-to-reach young people across Schools, PRUs, Virtual Schools and alternative settings.
The Challenging Me Mentoring programme is the culmination of 25 years’ experience of working with hard-to-reach young people across a range of settings.
Founder
Founder
Managing Dir.
Founders, Ian Calder and Dave Gregory, have first-hand experience working with some of the most hard-to-reach young people across the spectrum of settings, including multiple youth offending teams, prisons, PRUs, schools and alternative provisions, as well as with young people in care and residential settings.
Managing Director Angela Whiteley draws on a decade of experience working with young people and the professionals supporting them across a variety of educational settings.
The first time I met Dave & Ian, I was working in a large high school in Manchester as a coordinator for ethnic minority achievement. Some of the pupils were having running battles, with groupings split firmly along ethnic lines, and the school had brought them in to try to stem the escalating violence. The techniques they used were eclectic but effective. The incidents of fights between different racial groups dropped to zero.
Mark Darbey
They understand, first hand, the pressures on teenagers in the inner city. They bridge the gulf between teacher and pupil, pupil and parent, and parent and school. The pupils hang on his every word, their respect self-evident. The year before, there had been seven expulsions. After the mentors arrived, there was one.
Oliver Swanton
There are no words to describe my mentor and how great he is. If I had to choose one word to describe the programme it would be Amazing! I didn’t think anything would help me but joining the programme was the best choice I ever made. My mentoring programme helped me to realise I can do things, not that I might be able to, that I can do this! I would recommend this programme to anyone.
Mentee – aged 16
Challenge Me has been an engaging programme for all of our young people in our residential placements. The mentors are hard hitting and can really relate to the young people through using their real life experiences. We have seen a significant change in behaviours and how the young people use coping mechanisms as a result of working with their mentor. We especially like that each mentor is matched appropriately with each young person, taking into consideration their needs. We would recommend the mentoring programme to other residential providers as we have found it massively beneficial for our young people.
Ana – Operations Manager for Triangle Care Residential.
We have seen an increase in attendance, behaviour and improvement in home life from the several pupils we have working with Challenge Me. I believe this is through having a 1:1 mentor and an individual programme that has been tailored to fit them. The young people see the mentors as good role models; who listens to them and understands their needs/issues. I would certainly promote the programme as being unique, bespoke, supportive, reliable, engaging and professional.
Debi Capper – Alternative Provision Coordinator at Impact Pupil Referral Unit
My grandson has a lot of very complex issues going on in his life and his mentor had a certain way of interacting with him, getting him to open up, which is something he finds difficult to do with his family. During his time on the programme his attitude and approach to these issues has definitely improved. We as a family can’t thank the mentor enough for the commitment to my grandson and his wellbeing.
Lynn Wright – Parent/Guardian
Ops Manager