Our Y’s Girls Mentoring programme has been hugely successful and we have seen a huge amount of interest from potential volunteers and individuals who are eager to get involved. As a result we now have a total of 22 Y’s Girls volunteers who are passionate in helping young people become the best versions of themselves. Mentors and their young person meet on a weekly basis and take part in a widespread range of activities based on their shared interests. So far this has seen mentors and their mentees bake and decorate cupcakes, go out for lunch, try sushi, paint and draw, play crazy golf and go to the races. Y’s Girls Project Coordinator for YMCA Tayside, Alyxs Dellaquaglia, had this to say about the successful programme, “For me, the project has been hugely inspiring. Launching this initiative during a global pandemic has had its challenges, but I am so impressed with how we have responded and the eagerness of people desiring to volunteer and help young people.   “I love the team we have and I am looking forward to more activities where we all come together and share our experiences, offer encouragement and have fun!”   During their time together, mentors and mentees have been able to establish relationships built on trust and reliability. In doing so, they are able to get to know each other and become comfortable in each other’s company. We are now at the stage where mentors will begin to talk to their mentees about the formulation and process of creating goals. We look forward to seeing what types of goals our young people have and we are excited to help them achieve them. We recently held a mentor support evening which saw each of our mentors meet online. Due to Covid-19 safety regulations, we carried out this meeting via zoom, and although this wasn’t our intended plans, mentors got the opportunity to meet each other and share their experiences. Our mentors have come so far from when they first started their Y’s Girls training and have grown in confidence and each look forward to meeting with their Y’s Girls mentee each week. Here is what some of our Y’s Girls mentors have to say about this unique volunteering experience: “Y’s Girls is a positive experience for myself, giving me experience in youth work in a new setting. It is enjoyable to see a young person become more confident with me each week and feel open to share their life with me” “The mentor support nights are so useful for connecting with other mentors, sharing experiences and finding out new activities and ideas for working with my mentee.”