Joshua, aged 11

I was struggling with school and at home – people just didn’t seem to understand or listen to me and I would get angry.

My social worker said that maybe a mentor could help me – someone who would be there just for me. I loved the idea and knew I wanted one at once, so I was so excited when she found me one called Sally.

We were both a bit nervous when we first met, but it was fine once we got chatting. I think having a mentor is a bit like having an alien friend like ET who comes to help the little boy for a short while when he needs it the most. Sally was great at encouraging me to do things that I didn’t want to do - especially swimming as this is something that I’ve always been scared of. On our second visit to the pool I found I could swim with the float, which was really exciting.

Sally not only helped me to learn to swim she also helped me to control my temper, keep out of trouble at school, make some new friends and find some fun new activities.

I knew from the beginning that Sally would only mentor me to the end of the school year and I really enjoyed all 28 times we met.

It’s been really good to have somebody like Sally who really made me feel special.

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