Sparkways mentoring

Sparkways Mentoring participants Dan and Greg take to the badminton court

Sparkways mentoring began more than 130 years ago and is the oldest mentoring charity in Australia.

Sparkways is a social purpose organisation delivering access to early learning, mentoring for the vulnerable and those at-risk and training and employment opportunities for those wanting to try but have not previously been given the opportunity.

Young people are faced with complex social issues such as high underemployment rates, complex family structures, difficulties around transitioning from school to work and high mental health issues. Mentoring is an effective early intervention program which can support young people to cope with the difficulties of life, gain self-confidence and resilience. Additionally, the mentor can gain as much from the mentoring relationship as the young person, such as increased personal and social development and a better connection with the younger generation.

Sparkways Australia’s services include:

• vocational programs for the long-term unemployed
• English language, literacy and numeracy educational programs
• fee for service training
• employment programs for the disadvantaged sector of the community
• children’s services through our 22 Kindergartens and 8 Child Care Centres
• youth programs
• a diverse range of fund raising programs that support Sparkways charitable activities.

Create meaningful matches

Sparkways Youth Coordinators are trained to create meaningful matches and support the personal development of both the mentors and young people.

Seven out of ten Sparkways mentors state that becoming a mentor has enhanced their personal development. Six out of ten believe the experience helped create a better social connection with the younger generation.

Sparkways offers personal development training days for all mentors, empowering them with greater knowledge in how to communicate and support young people who are classified as at-risk or vulnerable. In fact, 75% believe the Sparkways training sessions were beneficial to their development as a Sparkways Mentor.

Find out more about Sparkways Mentoring