£1m project will

Vulnerable youngsters to be given mentoring

A BOLD and innovative £1 million scheme has been launched which aims to harness the skills of men and women across Dundee and give a crucial boost to disadvantaged children.

Secondary-aged youngsters who are vulnerable or have been in care are to get one-to-one mentoring designed to improve their academic performance and to support them in achieving a positive destination after they leave school.

The programme kicks-off at Morgan Academy this month and will begin at a second school, St Paul’s RC Academy, in October. It is intended that all eight of Dundee’s secondary schools will be involved in the programme by 2019, supporting up to 500 young people.

A pool of fully-trained mentors will be recruited from local companies and Dundee’s wider community to be matched appropriately to the young people.

Ellis Watson, chairman of BREAKTHROUGH Dundee and executive chairman of DC Thomson Publishing,said:“BREAKTHROUGH is an incredible charitable initiative that specifically targets the 500 careexperienced and other vulnerable young people, identified by the social care system, in Dundee’s secondary schools.

“Without radical intervention, statistics demonstrate that some of these young people will falter in life and fail.