United by the mission and strategy of YMCA Vision 2030, YMCAs worldwide make a difference every day. From equipping young people and communities with skills for employment to supporting refugees, improving physical and mental health and developing innovative ways to protect our planet, our Movement is driving change.
We highlighted eight inspiring films showcasing this work at the YMCA Accelerator Summit in Mombasa, Kenya, held 21-25 October 2024.
We have been sharing these films over the past weeks. Here, we feature the Y’s Girls mentoring programme; click here to see last week’s feature, the F2 GreenPathy Project.
Y’s Girls mentoring programme
Pillars: Community Wellbeing, Meaningful Work, Just World
YMCAs: YMCAs across the UK
Project summary: Funded by the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport and The Benefact Trust, the Y’s Girls mentoring programme – delivered in 10 local YMCAs across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – matches trained volunteer mentors with girls aged 9-14 over 12 months. Since 2021, the programme has helped some 270 girls to build resilience, improve their mental health and wellbeing – and be their best.
Key project features: The Y’s Girls mentoring programme matches trained volunteer mentors with young women aged 9-14 to support them to be their best.
Over the initial 19-month pilot, Y’s Girls has matched 270 girls to adult mentors and was awarded Family & Youth Work Project of the Year at the Youth Matters Awards 2022.
Over a year, mentors and young people meet for two-hour sessions and work together to identify achievable goals that will empower the mentee and build their resilience, enabling them to lead fulfilling lives and improve their short and long-term mental health and wellbeing. The sessions offer an informal environment to discuss anything that might worry them, from family and personal relationships to lifestyle and education.
The project is preparing to evolve into ‘Y Mentoring’, offering a similar support service to boys in the same age bracket.
In their words: “I was quite nervous to have a mentor. I thought maybe we wouldn’t get along. But it was amazing. I think it was one of the best things. And we had loads of fun doing different activities that we wouldn’t usually do”.