The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Youngsters ‘will go off the rails now and then’
MENTORING: Ex-police officer and youth worker backs BREAKTHROUGH project
A former Tayside police officer who set up a social enterprise to bring dance and the arts to young people in areas of deprivation and rural isolation has welcomed the setting up of the £1 million Dundee mentoring scheme BREAKTHROUGH Dundee.
Fergus Storrier, the founder of Dundee-based Showcase the Street, which operates from Manhattan Works in Maryfield, said BREAKTHROUGH Dundee – which aims to boost the life chances of secondary-aged young people who are vulnerable or have experienced care – has great merit.
However, he added: “There needs to be a realisation that these young people will go off the rails every now and then, and that’s all right because it’s going to be a long road before they get back there.
“I think that’s what’s important – just a recognition that things will go wrong and that’s alright,” he continued.
BREAKTHROUGH Dundee was launched by the Northwood Charitable Trust with support from DC Thomson & Co Ltd and Dundee City Council and aims to provide a 1:1 mentoring programme designed to improve pupils’ academic performance and to support them in achieving a positive destination after they leave school.
The programme began in Morgan Academy last month and St Paul’s RC Academy is next to pick up the baton.
It is intended all eight of Dundee’s secondary schools would be involved in the programme by 2019, supporting up to 500 young people.
A pool of fully trained mentors is being recruited from local companies and Dundee’s wider community to be matched appropriately to the young people and to support those who sign up to take part.
Mr Storrier added: “I think lookedafter and people that have been in care is an area that very often is not addressed.
“I think people have tried. It’s hard. We have done some work with folk from the Morgan here as well.
“Some of the stories that they give you are horrendous.
“I’ve seen mentoring schemes in other areas. I think they are good. It just needs to be tight.
“There needs to be a realisation that these young people will go off the rails every now and then, and that’s all right because it’s going to be a long road before they get back there.
“BREAKTHROUGH Dundee seems a good scheme. There seems to be a lot of weight behind it which is really important.”
For more information about BREAKTHROUGH Dundee, go to www.breakthroughdundee.co.uk.
malexander@thecourier.co.uk