Synergy Youth Mentoring

Synergy Youth mentoring is a preventative programme for children aged 8-12 matched 1:1 with a trained adult mentor.

Synergy's aim is to encourage the young people to make positive choices about:
- How they spend their time
- Who they spend their time with

Mentors will increase the children's self-esteem by:
- Assisting them develop their 'life' skills
- Showing them they can trust their own opinions and decisions
- Giving them memories of special times
- Showing them adults can be trustworthy
- Supporting them and encouraging them to set goals

Mentoring will offer young people a different perspective through:
- Meeting a wider variety of people-
- Interacting with other family groups
- Providing a wide variety of experiences

To be a friend, mentors are:
- Committed and reliable
- Good listenera
- Non-judgmental in their support of the children
- Able to offer ideas of what is right and wrong (when appropriate)
- Fun to be with

Contact Address	Family Works 12A Muller Road Blenheim
Phone Number	(03) 577 9005
Organisation Email
Organisation Website	http://www.familyworks.org.nz/
Contact Person	Nancy Sherwood
Email	nancys@psuis.org.nz
Programme Base	Blenheim
Other branches/areas of operation? - specify	Marlborough outreach, Picton and Renwick. Full time co-ordinators who are responsible for the day to day running of the programme are based in each of these locations. Also see Family Works
Target Group/s Age (range) Male/Female/Both	8-12 years Both
Additional Target Criteria? Ethnicity/decile/other
Nature of mentoring service	1:1 weekly contact (at least 1-2 hours) between child and adult friend for a minimum of a year. Providing reliable positive attention and a good role model.
Mentoring only, or is there some other element	Regular liaison with the referring agency. The agency enters into a partnership agreement with the programme for the duration of the mentoring match
Mentoring approach - individual/group/combination	Individual on a weekly basis plus big group get togethers twice a year and smaller get togethers informally between mentors on occasion
Mentoring duration - annual or other	12 month minimum, can be extended as required either with same mentor or a rematch if necessary
Location and frequency eg school, monthly	Weekly, away from the child's home - usually either in the community or the mentor's home
Programme Operating since	2002
Mentor Source	Community
Mentor Target Criteria	Currently up to 32 matches per year. Mentors vetted with police, CYFS, doctor and 2 references
Measurement and Evaluation - how is this done	Monthly supervision of mentors plus six-monthly questionnaires completed by child, parent/caregiver, mentor. Yearly questionnaires completed by referring agency
Involvement Opportunities