A COUNCILLOR has hailed the work being carried out by a mentoring programme across schools in North Ayrshire.

Motivation, Commitment, and Resilience (MCR) Pathways work alongside care experienced young people and other young people facing continuous instability in their lives.

They do so by providing children with an adult mentor - with the aim of providing all young people to experience an equality of education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances. 

In North Ayrshire, the organisation is currently working with over 300 young people across eight schools in the region.

They have also been working closely with the North Ayrshire Council as part of their three-year improvement plan to expand our work to disengaged young people.

At the heart of their work is matching youngsters with one of their volunteer mentors, who come from a variety of backgrounds, to provide a consistent, caring adult relationship that can boost confidence, academic performance and open doors to a brighter future.

A keen supporter of the programme has been North Ayrshire Council's mental health champion Jean McClung - who previously worked as a school teacher.

She commented: "I was interested to hear more information recently about the mentoring work being carried out in our schools by MCR Pathways.

"As a former teacher myself I am very much aware of the role a trusted adult can play in the well-being, educational outcomes and general life experiences of our young people.

"In the course of my career teaching in secondary schools I had the privilege of working with young people from diverse backgrounds.

"A number of my pupils experienced troubled home lives and I often felt that for them having a sympathetic adult in whom they could confide, and who could also give some practical advice, was more important than the actual lessons I was teaching!

"Given the increasing incidents of mental ill-health among our young people I am delighted that our schools are taking advantage of this mentoring service.”

At present, MCR Pathways have a need to recruit mentors to continue their work throughout the community.

Those interested in finding out how they could get involved can learn more online at mcrpathways.org/become-a-mentor/.