Bridging the Gap Mentoring – What we do

Bridging the Gap Mentoring arranges mentors for people at risk of homelessness / addiction / or with experience of  the Criminal Justice System. Our mentors work with their mentees to identify and work towards two or three practical goals chosen by the mentee. Often these goals relate to benefits, filling in forms, training, employment or voluntary work, health, housing and building relationships. Our mentors can also provide general support and encouragement and may be able to come to appointments, for example with the council or benefit offices.

Our mentors are volunteers.  Each volunteer mentor is supported by an experienced professional (often a social worker) who will phone the mentor each week and meet them regularly.  This provides a unique high-quality service by combining the personal interest and enthusiasm of a volunteer with the expertise of an experienced professional.  We welcome people with lived experience of homelessness, offending or addiction as volunteer mentors.

We provide an initial training and arrange DBS (Criminal Record) checks. Mentors are individually matched to mentees who they can help. We expect mentors to meet with their mentees about once a week for 16 weeks. People who have a criminal record will probably still be able to mentor, but they must tell us about their offences.

If you would like to refer someone to Bridging the Gap Mentoring, please visit this page to find out more.

If you would like to find out about being a mentor, please look at this page