News and Events

YWCA NSW Celebrates Youth Mentoring Week

 

Mentoring Showcased as Part of AGM

 

 

Sydney, 27 October 2011 – YWCA NSW is celebrating Youth Mentoring Week (Oct 23-29) because youth mentoring is such an important part of YWCA NSW’s programs across the State.

 

During the 12 months to June 2011, 3,306 young people were supported by mentors in YWCA NSW’s mentoring programs including Big Brothers Big Sisters™ and In-School Mentoring. Rachel Ward, AO, YWCA NSW’s Patron, says, “At a time where the divide between those advantaged by life and those disadvantaged keep expanding, I continue, in whatever capacity I can, to seek ways to keep pathways between the two open and fluid. I am one of the lucky ones but many children are not as lucky as ours and it’s increasingly easy to have no interaction with those who are doing it tough, to lose empathy and urgency. I have found that mentoring programs like the Big Brothers, Big Sisters™ program at YWCA NSW offer one of the most effective means of keeping the interchange of experiences, opportunity and influence flowing between communities and social classes.”

 

At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of YWCA NSW, the organisation’s CEO Kate Frost focussed on how YWCA NSW provides mentoring opportunities for young people, but also delivers more than 70 programs to individuals, families and whole communities throughout the State.

 

“We recognise that it takes a village to raise a child and so it is vital that we all play our part. Mentoring is a critical piece in this puzzle, but in addition to mentoring programs, YWCA NSW, for example also helped 11,000 children aged six to 12 improve their literacy and numeracy skills and 407 high school students participated in a one-day financial literacy workshop.

 

“We supported 1,707 women affected by domestic violence and assisted 1,000 women through the domestic violence intervention service at Nowra Police Station. We served 11,917 nutritious breakfasts to primary school kids. We helped 1,743 people referred to Homeless Brokerage find accommodation and shelter. 596 women took part in our Encore exercise program, specially designed for women who’ve had breast cancer surgery.

 

“Overall, we supported 30,000 people throughout NSW in 201/11. We celebrate Youth Mentoring Week but we can also look back over the past year and realise that we did so much more, helping whole families and communities get back on track.”