filmon grandmentors intergenerational mentoring

Grandmentors

Grandmentors: building better futures for young people leaving care in 11 areas of the UK. Volunteer Grandmentors share their skills and experience with young people leaving care to help them get on in life.

Match and Mentor

Through our fantastic volunteers, Match and Mentor provides support for individuals with learning difficulties and additional support needs to volunteer.
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Peer Perspectives Clackmannanshire

Led by volunteers aged 16-25, who have been supported and trained by our team, these young people want to play an active role in their community by championing mental health, whilst developing their own skills at the same time.
Our Response to COVID-19

RESPECT Project

Family support packs free Children Packs User-friendly, informative and engaging packs for primary-school aged children! Two new packs a month for families Each pack consists of 48 pages packed with fun and resilience-building activities free Adult Packs Information around COVID-19 and family activities. Adult packs come in five languages: English, Romanian, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish Order your online-pack today by … Continued

SAFE (Sexual Awareness for Everyone)

The S.A.F.E project (Sexual Awareness For Everyone) is for women living in Gwent aged 16 – 35 who have a learning need or disability. The project aims to give vulnerable young people the tools to identify appropriate and safe relationships.

Team London Young Ambassadors – Youth Social Action Volunteer

Team London Young Ambassadors delivers a Youth Social Action programme to Alternative Provision, Pupil Referral Units and Special Educational Need and Disability schools. The programme will deliver in school sessions that encourage and support young people aged 10 – 18 to explore issues that are meaningful and relevant to them, inform system change and address … Continued

GRANDMENTORS – VOLUNTEER (Wandsworth)

Grandmentors is an innovative volunteering project where older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support and mentor young people leaving the care system. These young people who are out of employment, education or training (NEET) often need a guiding hand and role model to support them to find work, continue their education or … Continued

GRANDMENTORS – VOLUNTEER (BRENT)

Grandmentors is an innovative volunteering project where older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support and mentor young people leaving the care system. These young people who are out of employment, education or training (NEET) often need a guiding hand and role model to support them to find work, continue their education or … Continued

GRANDMENTORS – VOLUNTEER (Wiltshire)

Grandmentors is an innovative project that sees older volunteers use their lifetime of skills and experience to support young people leaving the care system. This opportunity is for Grandmentors Wiltshire.

Power Of Youth Day: Kingston Mencap Society, Adam’s Story

To celebrate Power Of Youth Day we put the spotlight on Team London Young Ambassadors at Kingston Mencap. One of the TLYA young ambassadors, Adam (not his real name) has used his own experience with mental health problems to develop a mental health plan that provides a safe space for others to feel safe and supported through their own struggles. Over the next few weeks we will be sharing more youth social action stories from our amazing Team London Young Ambassadors.

Grandmentors and Hounslow Allies

All local authorities have a statutory duty to provide independent visitors to all children in care (aged 8 – 16+) who would benefit. In Hounslow, London, we’ve been providing an Independent Visitor Service – Hounslow Allies – for over 12 years. We also run Grandmentors in Hounslow. Grandmentors is an intergenerational mentoring programme that matches … Continued

WASSUP: Amber’s Story

'It feels to me that I have gone full circle in the volunteering world, by starting as a volunteer and being empowered by the staff there, to becoming a staff member myself and empowering the next generation of volunteers.'

Full-time Volunteering: James’ Story

James (whose official name is Chih-Chien Chiang) is a full-time volunteer from Taiwan, who is based in London. He supports a BBC journalist with his everyday routine at work.

Full-time Volunteering: Sandy’s Story

Sandy spent a year as a full-time volunteer on project Vocal, supporting people with learning disabilities to become actively involved in their community by volunteering.

Full-time Volunteering: Larry’s Story

Ever wondered what a full-time volunteer actually does? Each opportunity is different, and we heard from Larry who volunteers for the disability and well being service at the London School of Economics.

Behind Every Kick: Rosalind’s Story

Meeting on the pitch for training sessions before one-to-one mentoring helped Rosalind to build a positive relationship with her Behind Every Kick mentee.

North Lanarkshire Befriending Project: Ross’ Story

'After I graduated volunteering as a befriender gave me a sense of satisfaction and reward that no desk job ever could – giving your time to someone who just needs a pal is an amazing gift, and one that a young person will remember forever.'

Learn Together Cymru: David’s Story

David is 79 and has been volunteering as a schools reading volunteer with Volunteering Matters since 2000. He told us about his favourite parts of the role, and shared some stories from his time in primary schools in Wales.

What it’s like to be a Grandmentor

Karen heard about Grandmentors through the local business community, and is already seeing a great difference in her mentee, only a few weeks into supporting her as a volunteer.

North Lanarkshire Befriending Project: Evelyn’s Story

'I originally thought as a befriender I was there just to give my young person time out from their family life and to allow them to have some fun whilst also helping them make positive choices going forward in their lives. I didn’t think for one minute how much I would benefit and gain from being a befriender.'

Grandmentors Programme Review

An external review of the Grandmentors programme, conducted between June and September 2017. The review looks at what Grandmentors offers in the current policy and commissioning environment, and how the model could be evolved for the future.
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New consortium to support #iwill announced

We’re delighted to share that today Step Up To Serve have announced that Volunteering Matters and UK Youth have formed a new consortium to deliver key functions of the #iwill movement. We can’t wait to work together to keep growing the #iwill movement and ensure young people can lead change through social action. Read the … Continued

Grandmentors Golf day raises £5,000 for care leavers

Seventy supporters raised £5,000 for Grandmentors, an inter-generational award-winning project of Volunteering Matters. The money will help to provide weekly support for young care leavers over a 6-12 month period, ensuring greater well-being, autonomy and career prospects.

Speaking out against sexual harassment

Our new project for women aged 16-35 across Gwent who have learning difficulties or autism, empowering them to recognise sexual harassment and abuse

Volunteering Matters scoops charity award!

We are delighted to announce that Volunteering Matters has won the award for ‘social care, advice and support’ in the 2018 Charity Awards for our Grandmentors programme.

Volunteers Supporting Families Launched in Waltham Forest

We have joined forces with Waltham Forest Council to launch Volunteers Supporting Families in the local area! We will be recruiting and training volunteer mentors to support families with children at risk of significant harm through neglect, who are in crisis or who need extra help.

We’re challenging young people to start their revolution!

This month sees the launch of our brand new campaign to change young people’s perceptions of volunteering. Titled ' Revolution You ', our campaign aims to challenge preconceived notions of volunteering and encourage more young people to consider a gap year in the UK. 
Impact Day National Careers Week

Positive Futures for young Londoners

To mark National Careers Week, The Petchey Academy sixth form students were joined by volunteers from professional services firm Deloitte for a day of activities designed to develop key employment skills.
Karen and Sarah

Taking Grandmentors to new places!

Both Stockton Council and Wiltshire Council will be teaming up with Volunteering Matters to launch Grandmentors in their area, providing new inter-generational mentoring to young people leaving care. 

Positive Futures for young people in Ipswich

We’re delighted to announce that our work with and for young people across Ipswich has been given a boost this month with the arrival of a new youth volunteering project in the area – Positive Futures.

#iwill Ambassadors reflect on launching the Vision for Volunteering

 By Aoife Murphy, Communications Manager, with Emma-Jane Hampsheir-Gill, Gracie Chick & George Fielding As part of Volunteers Week and in time for Power Of Youth Day, we want to champion the voices of the young people who launched the Vision For Volunteering and were instrumental to the inclusion of a wide range of voices and perspectives … Continued

Volunteer Expo Live 2022

The UK’s national Volunteering Show has landed! Volunteering Matters is delighted to be involved in Volunteer Expo Live, a national event that seeks to connect volunteers, organisations and the charity sector together under one roof in order to help introduce more people to the world of volunteering. Volunteer Expo Live, which is being hosted by … Continued

Work With Us: Natasha’s story

We asked Natasha Craike, Project Co-ordinator of Grandmentors Surrey, to tell us about what it feels like to work at Volunteering Matters. Natasha told us about her experience of being a working mum at Volunteering Matters. As a mum to an 18 month old baby I didn’t think that I could go back to work … Continued

Abigail’s story: Volunteering with Mind Matters #iwillweek

My name is Abigail and I am a student volunteer with the Mind Matters project. I identified that some of the participants struggled to understand the information and material used. As a student-volunteer, I made it my mission to ensure that accessible resources were created so that everyone, regardless of learning ability, is empowered to … Continued

Ben’s Story: Why Volunteering Matters #iwillweek

My name is Ben Robinson and I am a 17 year old  volunteer at Volunteering Matters. Before I started volunteering, I was a pupil in Abersychan Comprehensive School but I did not do very much in my spare time and I procrastinated the things that I needed to do.  I found out about Volunteering Matters … Continued

Want to make a positive impact in your local community?

Calling all 18-24 year olds! We’ve teamed up with NCS – National Citizen Service – to support the UK Year of Service. If you are aged 18-24 and have a passion for doing good, the UK Year of Service offers work placement opportunities for you. We have 28 paid-for roles available within Volunteering Matters with … Continued

Volunteering Matters Collaborates with Mencap to inspire volunteer support

When Mencap asked us to support their initiative to encourage young people with mild and moderate learning difficulties to volunteer, we were excited to help.  Volunteering can be as beneficial to the person giving support as it is to the recipient, and we felt this was especially relevant in the case of the Mencap students.  Volunteering is … Continued

RESPECT Project

RESPECT Project – sourcing & donating educational packs to support families’ home-learning. One of the many things we’re doing in response to COVID is RESPECT. Based in Suffolk, our volunteers are creating activity packs for children. These are helping families with home-schooling, especially those who may not have English as their first language. The packs, … Continued