Empower pairs university student with young people for one to one, near to peer mentoring to set goals, navigate challenges and build key skills. This programme currently runs in Southampton.
What is Empower?
If young people receive 1:1 near-to-peer mentoring they will feel more confident setting goals and navigating challenges, be more self aware, have more self-belief and improve their relationships with others. In turn this will lead to improved expectations for future life.
We work with schools with a high proportion of pupils on pupil premium and with English as a second language to identify pupils who will benefit most from the intervention. These are often young people who are struggling in the classroom.
The students we work with are trained and supported to deliver meaningful, targeted mentoring sessions based on our established framework.
What’s the impact?
Empower aims to improve young people’s expectations for future life through near-to-peer mentoring. To meet this aim we ensure every young person who takes part in the programme:
- Feels more confident setting goals and making decisions
- Develops their self awareness
- Experiences improved relationships with others
- Builds improved self-belief
To achieve this our students are trained to create an environment which is safe, supported, respectful, interesting and challenging. An environment which supports key social and emotional skill development.
In 2021-22
100%
partners agreed young people show increased confidence in making decisions for their future
100%
partners agreed they have observed an improvement in the young people’s expectations for future life
students agreed young people show more engagement with their studies
My confidence, especially in my ability to talk to and help others, has really improved. Mentoring provides the challenge of approaching things from different angles when at first you’re not getting through, which helps in all areas of student life.
Jo Williams, Southampton Hub volunteer