Mentoring Forum in Warrnambool

Brophy family and youth services hosted a forum on school-based mentoring on June 11th. The forum was aimed at schools heads, chaplains and welfare staff. The welcome to country was announced by Adeline Mc Donald; Joint coordinator of the Kalay Wartee Indigenous mentoring program based in Warrnambool and Sandra, a student on the program.

The 3 speakers for the evening were Jeanette Pritchard; Standing Tall Baimbridge College, Marylin Leermakers; Kids Hope Aus and Jacinta Tolland; Standing Tall Camperdown College. Two mentors also gave a brief insight of their mentoring experience. The presentations stimulated a lively discussion session between the audience and all the program coordinators, mentors and student present. There was a brief break out session for groups to give there perspective on school mentoring and these comments were aired to the whole group and noted for future progression. At the end of the forum there was interest in the audience to start a working group to set up a mentoring program in schools in Warrnambool; we hope to make a joint submission for funding thro this working group.

2nd Networking meeting; Barwon Metoring programs.

In June 08, we had our networking meeting at SGAE (Sthrn Gramps Adult Ed'n) run by Kathryn Hamill, and were invited to meet the students and mentors of the Youth Ed'n and VCAL progs. The prog assists students with literacy, numeracy and computing and some go on to do Cert 3 and 4 in a range of different subjects including media, advertising, photography, catering and hospitality and child care. Some of these students are severely disadvantages and living under very difficult conditions. This program helps many to achieve a qualification which can then assist in securing employment. Recently they held a graduation ball to celebrate the achievements of individual students, with the added opportunity to dress for the occasion!

At the networking meeting we had a good turn out of program coordinators and we welcomed Cindy Jenkinson, Youth Development Officer at Corangamite Shire. We discussed the inherent problem of sustaining regional mentoring progs and possible means of funding. Upcoming dates and events are also planned for the year ahead.

Watch this space for an update on the next meeting.

West of Barwon South West Region!

Recently we held our first networking meeting for mentoring programs at this end of the Region. We got a chance to meet The Shed program based at the YMCA Portland, where they repair and put together old bikes and motors for lawn mowers. It was great to see the enthusiasm of the young students and the dedication of the older Mentors and how both age groups worked so well together.

The Program Coordinators who attended this meeting were able to exchange notes about their own programs and we also came up with a list of 'challenging' areas which we hope to tackle together as a network.

If you are a involved with a mentoring program in the BSW Region and would like to get involved; this includes coordinators, mentors and mentees/students or even someone thinking of setting up a mentoring program, PLEASE get in touch. There are many resources and sources of information which we can access on youth mentoring, so please don't struggle on your own.

Rashmita Samrai
Regional Mentoring Coordinator.

Great mentoring resources

There are two terrific Australian websites with a huge array of resources, research and advice for existing or new mentoring programs to access for free:

The Victorian Youth Mentoring Alliance offers a search facility of their extensive mentoring program database as well as program snapshots and upcoming Victorian mentoring events and activities.

The national Youth Mentoring Network provides a wealth of information on mentoring including extensive Australian and overseas research and benchmarks for mentoring programs to follow.

All mentoring coordinators or people interested in setting up a mentoring program would be well served by exploring both of these sites.

Did the Colac forum deliver on the promise?

The 'Youth Mentoring - Communities Delivering on the Promise' forum held in Colac on October 30th highlighted the potential and challenges of both youth mentoring itself and, by extension, how to support programs regionally.

Guest speaker Jeanette Pritchard's presentation focussed on how to energise communities to support young people by taking ownership of youth mentoring programs. Drawing on her research and experience with the Standing Tall program in Hamilton, Jeanette outlined how, from a resiliency perspective, mentoring young people by adults in the community can be an effective way to help reduce risk factors and boost protective factors. However, for a program to have these outcomes it must be well run on sound principles and operate in an environment where participants and the community feel ownership over the program.

Click here to access Jeanette's powerpoint presentation via the Youth Mentoring Network's website.

The panel discussion featured:

• Shannon Lutrell (Big Brothers Big Sisters, Geelong)


• Wendy Cannon (Aspire, Warrnambool)


• Jacinta Tolland (Camperdown P-12 College)


• Sarah Johnson (Victorian Youth Mentoring Alliance - state body)


• Sylvia Utami (Youth Mentoring Network - national body).

Panel discussion points:

• do your research with potential participants (young people and mentors) to ensure there is sufficient demand for this program


• don't reinvent the wheel: use previous models and experience of other organisations, stay connected the your local network and use the resources on VYMA and YMN websites


• make sure young people feel ownership of the program as early as possible in planning process so they won't run a mile once it's set up


• develop community investment by making your program indispensible and making sure you promote what you do well


• moving outside your own sector to set up partnerships can build better programs and help make them more sustainable


• be creative in developing strategies for engaging business in your program


• be realistic and informed about the resources (especially staff time) involved in planning and running a good mentoring program

The forum then looked at potential actions for a Regional Coordination Project around supporting youth mentoring in the region. Suggestions included:

• Explore options to make the 'first step' easier for schools and organisations, such as model development, recruitment & training of mentors


• Scope potential programs and organisations in the region which could benefit from working together in partnership


• Set up a Barwon South West regional steering group to inform the Regional Coordination Project worker


• Explore links with volunteer support organisations to centralise a trained mentor pool


• Encourage partnerships between schools and community organsations to deliver a coordinated approach to recruiting and training mentors for schools to access

Feedback from participants indicated that the forum met their expectations (93% favourable) in terms of the 5 objectives of the forum:

• Increase awareness of youth mentoring and its potential in the region


• Increase understanding of the issues of youth mentoring programs new & existing


• A more thoughtful, collaborative and informed approach to planning & implementing programs


• Provide a springboard to future training opportunities


• Develop some actions for regional support

The forum will provide our new Regional Coordination Project worker (due to commence soon) with a solid foundation to work with from here. Thankyou to everyone for participating in the forum and look forward to seeing you at future events as part of the Barwon South West Youth Mentoring Network.

Thanks to our panel members and especially Sylvia from the national Youth Mentoring Network for partnering in this forum and travelling down from Sydney for the day.

Youth Mentoring Forum rescheduled to October 30th

The 'Youth Mentoring - Communities Delivering on the Promise' forum cancelled in August has been rescheduled to Thursday 30th October. I will be contacting anyone who registered previously to see if they still wish to attend. If we have spaces remaining I will then open to others.

'Youth Mentoring - Communities delivering on the promise'

• Learn how well-run youth mentoring programs can help connect young people to their communities and improve personal, educational and social outcomes.
• Hear stories from current program coordinators on the highlights, challenges and implications of running successful youth mentoring programs
• What does the research say about the benefits and limitations of youth mentoring?
• Discuss regional and community responses - how can we get there from here?

Hear from guest speaker Jeanette Pritchard from the successful 'Standing Tall' mentoring model at Baimbridge College and other coordinators, mentors and young people involved in mentoring programs across the Barwon South West region.

The forum will be facilitated by Damien Becker of the Barwon South West Youth Mentoring Network who are coordinating this event in partnership with the national Youth Mentoring Network.

Venue: Colac Otways Performing Arts Centre
Address: Cnr Gellibrand and Rae St, Colac VIC 3250 (map below)

Date: Thursday 30th October 1.30pm - 4pm

Cost: Free, refreshments provided

Limited places. To request an attendance registration form, contact Damien Becker on 55618888 or at dbecker@brophy.org.au


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New project worker being sought

After a month of recuperation, I am back at work but have resigned due to ongoing health issues. As a person with cystic fibrosis, the mind is willing but the body doesn't always keep up. C'est la vie.

The most frustrating part of resigning from this position is that the Barwon South West youth mentoring forum planned for August - and the huge interest it was generating - was really helping develop the momentum to 'put youth mentoring on the map', as Jeanette Pritchard would say. I have would loved to be around to help use that momentum to develop serious action in the region.

However, I will be staying at Brophy working part time on the Kalay Wartee Indigenous youth mentoring program. I will be rescheduling the Colac forum for late October and hopefully we will have a new worker on board by then to participate and for everyone to meet. The forum will be important for maintaining momentum and assisting the Regional Coordination Project worker develop their workplan for the Barwon South West.

If you are interested in the position of Regional Mentoring Coordination project worker for the Barwon South West, contact Monica Smith at Brophy on 5561 8888. Cheers, Damien