We have been where these young people are now. We know what it is to be disillusioned and disengaged from the world. We know what it is to feel powerless in making the decisions that will set the course of your own life, to believe the world is against you and that nobody cares whether you fail or succeed. We’ve taken wrong turns and made unhealthy choices. And we’ve turned our lives around to create something we can be truly proud of.
Our 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. Dave and Ian’s determination to facilitate positive change for disadvantaged young people led to them playing founding roles in the establishment of the Manchester Multi-Agency Gang Strategy (MMAGS), a group that brought together professionals from the police, probation service, social care, education and youth organisations to have a positive impact on the lives of young people in the region.
The statistics told us the project had been a success. The feedback told us the young people had been inspired to take control of their futures and with the support of a relatable team that offered a respectful, mutually trusting environment, they had been able to move away from the belief that the course of their lives had been pre-determined by their circumstances. They had a new sense of self-belief.
The experience with MMAGS highlighted the astonishing level of need within the community – a level way beyond what the available support services could handle. Economic cuts had seen many services withdrawn, at exactly the same time as more and more families began struggling to stay afloat in a sea of rising unemployment and social deprivation. It was amid this harsh reality that Challenge Me was born.
Ian and Dave channeled their own experiences into coming up with a way of engaging and connecting with these young people on a level that would make a real difference to their lives. Drawing on their decade of experience working with young people and the professionals supporting them across a variety of educational settings, the two of them developed a bespoke mentoring programme to inspire, encourage and empower hard-to-reach young people. This became the Challenging Me programme.
The passion we have for facilitating the kind of change that improves outcomes for young people doesn’t stop there. We know this type of life-altering, fundamental change doesn’t begin and end with us, and that we need the support of the professionals who are working with these young people on a daily basis. That’s why we developed additional programmes, such as our CPD accredited training programme, to support the adults who are working on the frontlines with these young people.
We’re committed to continuing improving outcomes for all young people. Because we know that with the right support and the right modelling of healthy, trusting relationships, young people are in a much better position to achieve their full potential, and go on to build happy, authentic, fulfilling lives.
Mentoring is a powerful tool for supporting hard-to-reach young people:
Education Mentoring
Social Outreach Mentoring
Looked After Children Mentoring
CPD-accredited training programmes for adults who regularly or routinely work with vulnerable young people.
Our team of experienced practitioners have developed a suite of programmes designed to help improve outcomes.
Meet the team
Founder
Ian Calder has been supporting the most vulnerable, hard-to-engage young people in the country for more than 25 years. Through his work both in the community and in various educational settings, Ian has helped turn around the lives of many disengaged and disadvantaged young people – and that is the work he’s dedicated to continuing through Challenge Me. Ian has been a real champion in the community for young people struggling with social, emotional, behavioural and mental health challenges, working with the Home Office, multiple youth offending teams, schools and pupil referral units to effect meaningful change and drive conversations towards positive outcomes.
Founder
For more than 25 years, Dave Gregory has been working with some of the most disadvantaged and hard-to-reach young people in the country. He’s been where many of these young people are, and he knows just how desperate life can seem when you feel powerless to make a change. Dave was able to turn his own life around, and now draws on his personal experiences to make a significant positive impact on the many young people in the region who are facing similar life challenges. Everything he does is with a commitment to inspire change and support growth for the most vulnerable young people in the country.
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