Helpful Youth Mentoring Links
Heart For Youth Charitable Trust
The Heart For Youth Charitable Trust (H4Y) is on the North Shore, Auckland, New Zealand. It’s mission: “To accept, connect, equip and encourage youth & young adults through the integration of training processes and programs covering life skills/ values, self-awareness, self-esteem/ self-discipline principles and personal growth of all youth/young adults from any ethnicities – inclusive of youth at risk, those marginalised, underprivileged and those having special needs or disabilities in Aotearoa New Zealand”.
Our four core values of H4Y are: ACCEPT CONNECT EQUIP ENCOURAGE
Some of the programs offered include: youth mentoring, parent support, life skills training, counselling and crisis support, ‘in-schools’ peer mentor training and support and lots more.
Scottish Mentoring Network
This website contains the most comprehensive on-line library of mentoring information in Scotland, as well as many links to other organisations involved in coaching and mentoring.
e-Buddies
A Best Buddies International Program. This organisation matches volunteers with people who have mental retardation and other disabilities.
Life Changing Experiences Foundation
An Australian website which includes the SISTER2sister mentoring project.Currently The SISTER2sister Project mentors 40 at risk teenage girls in the Sydney metropolitan area. Each of the girls is assigned a “Big Sister” mentor as a positive female role model to provide support, guidance and advice, where needed, throughout the 12 month project.
Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota
An American site,the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota is the driving force in the mentoring movement; bringing together diverse individuals and organizations to connect caring adults with a generation of kids in mentoring relationships. Their commitment to youth is to make mentoring more mainstream in Minnesota.
Parenting Place
A New Zealand organization with parenting programs, family coaching, school programs, online support and much more. Many resources available.
Search Institute
An American site with plenty of research and information on how to promote the building of assets while working with youth. Great for those involved in youth mentoring and education. Their findings and resources have heavily influenced the work of Youth Empowerment Seminars!
National Dropout Prevention Centres
An American site which provides knowledge and promotes networking for researchers, practitioners, policymakers and families to increase opportunities for youth in at-risk situations to receive the quality education and services necessary to successfully graduate from high school. Some useful mentoring information can be found on the Effective Strategies page.
The New Zealand Youth Mentoring Network
Formerly the Auckland Youth Mentoring Association (established in 2000), The New Zealand Youth Mentoring Network is a not-for-profit charitable Trust. The vision of the Network is to encourage the setting up of effective youth mentoring programs in communities in New Zealand. It aims to support and promote effective youth mentoring by providing resources and training opportunities, facilitating networking and co-ordination, creating a positive public profile for youth mentoring, and encouraging community engagement in quality mentoring programmes. Most New Zealand youth mentoring programs can be found on this site.
Vaping - you can encourage teenagers to stop!
Vaping has become a challenging issue to discuss with youth. As someone who battled Cancer as a young boy, quite obviously I do not wish anyone to go through experiences I had.
Informal Education
A useful U.K. site for articles on mentoring research and learning mentors, the latter a relatively new mentoring concept.
Raise: The Youth Mentoring Foundation
An Australian youth mentoring movement creating thriving communities across Australia. Its mission is to impact youth wellbeing and engagement through early intervention mentoring programs in schools and communities. Its purpose is to ensure young people feel heard, valued and supported.
Childtrends
Based in America, Childtrends is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organisation dedicated to improving the lives of children by conducting research and providing science-based information to improve the decisions, programs and policies that affect children and their families. There is useful research available, especially for those involved in setting up mentoring programmes and trainers who might be looking for more information on young people.
Frontline Solutions
A New Zealand organisation offering youth mentoring products e.g. The Student Performer Software; The Mentor Profiler software. Non-threatening profilers, valuable assets for monitoring one’s personal development. Participants are given strategies to work on to help them reach their potential, as students or as mentors. This is a great tool for evaluating the mentoring journey, as it is completed by both the Mentors and the Mentees (Student Performer) – email Doug Cowie:frontline@maxnet.co.nz.
The Governor's Prevention Partnership
The Governor’s Prevention Partnership works in collaboration with local, regional and statewide providers to maximize youth development programming without duplicating services. The Partnership’s programs affect children in virtually every community in the state.
Mentoring For Youth
Based in the U.K., Mentoring For Youth provide three types of mentoring opportunities: self-paced mentoring courses, Live 1-on-1 sessions, and Live group mentoring webinars.
Mentor National Mentoring Partnership
This is one of the top youth mentoring websites (based in the United States of America) and, most importantly, contains an excellent section covering Effective Practices for running a mentoring programme. Numerous documents are freely available to be downloaded off this site.
The Tutor/Mentor Connection
The MISSION of the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) is to provide an organized framework that empowers and encourages adult volunteers to give their time, effort, ideas and advocacy in seeking life-changing solutions for children living in educationally and economically disadvantaged environments such as the Cabrini-Green housing development in Chicago. There is some interesting material on their site. There is also access to other mentor and tutor blog pages which are well worth visiting.
Mentor Consulting Group
Based in America and founded by Dr Susan Weinberger, one of the experts in the field of mentoring, this organisation has some useful tips for those wanting to set up mentoring programmes.
Upside Youth Mentoring
Upside Youth Mentoring (formerly Brothers In Arms) supports change in Aotearoa New Zealand’s young people with adverse childhood experiences. We want to help them feel a little brighter and more loved than they did yesterday. Our dream is to change the future of our nation. We’ve been matching young people with mentors since 2006 and with over 700 matches and 6000 hours of mentoring a year, we’ve seen time and time again the life-changing effects of this connection. 90% success rate in 2019 (24% higher than international standard). We work with young people aged 9-13 years old who have been referred to us from principals, counsellors, psychologists and social workers who believe a positive role model is what this young person needs to help navigate their current challenges.
Teacher Appreciation
Teacher Appreciation website with ideas and suggestions for Teacher’s Day, Teacher Appreciation Week and other student-teacher special occasions.
The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
This is an excellent American site for research on youth issues and youth mentoring. Plenty of information for those working with students from high risk environments (‘at risk’). Great information on setting up a youth mentoring programme, funding strategies and a whole lot more.
Resiliency in Action
Nan Henderson and others have produced some excellent resources and articles on resiliency, a crucial component of a credible youth mentoring program.
Big Brothers Big Sisters International
Based in America, Big Brothers Big Sisters International is a global alliance of country-specific associations of Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer mentoring programs working to improve the lives of children and youth around the world.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse and other Addictions
Increasingly neuroscience research is suggesting that drugs and alcohol have a greater effect on teens than on adults. The signs of addiction can be difficult to understand, and many adolescents don’t realize the long-term damage drugs have on their bodies because the short-term side-effects fade. Although this is a USA website, there is some helpful information for anyone wanting to know more about drug and alcohol abuse. Always double-check the services available in the areas in which you live and work.
Two other helpful websites are: Addiction Guide and Addiction Signs
Another interesting site looks at youth addictions including video-gaming
There is a helpful site, Substance Use Prevention Education This is a comprehensive drug education platform for individuals of all ages. SUPE has helpful articles and engaging videos for kids, teens, parents, and teachers. This educational content is accompanied with tailored curriculums designed by professionals in education. Resources are also provided for for employers, aging adults, and industry professionals; it is a platform for everyone.
Tips and Strategies for Effective Sleeping Habits
A good night’s sleep is key to staying productive and performing at your best. However, for young people and students, sticking to a consistent bedtime routine can prove tricky. With social commitments, and for some, work obligations to honour alongside a stringent study schedule, many students find they’re simply too busy – or too stressed – to get the recommended 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep consistently. To help students practise better sleep hygiene, Dunelm has created this useful guide, complete with 40+ tips to help university students optimise their sleep. The guide covers the importance of getting a good night’s sleep while at university, taking into account the science of sleep and looking at how quality rest can improve memory and productivity. In addition, it contains data-backed facts and figures to illustrate the importance of rest. With 75% of students sampled falling into the ‘poor sleepers’ category, and 38% of students in a separate study reporting that poor sleep impacts their mental health, utilising the tips and tricks in this guide this is essential for maintaining good quality sleep and prioritising your overall wellbeing while at university. From setting clearer boundaries with your peers to creating a more restful sleep environment and optimising your naps, this guide shares a number of ways you can sleep better, feel better, and get the most out of your time at university.