When Lynn was first signposted to The Island, she wasn't entirely sure what to expect. However, over time, it became clear that what their son received went far beyond anything that she could have imagined.
“All we want is for our child to be happy, and my son always now comes back from sessions with his mentor happier” - Lynn's Story
When Lynn was first signposted to The Island, she wasn't entirely sure what to expect. However, over time, it became clear that what their son received went far beyond anything that she could have imagined.
Through The Island’s youth groups, mentoring programme and additional family support, Lynn's son gained a trusted adult to confide in.
We spoke to Lynn to find out more about her experience and how support from The Island has helped not only her son, but her whole family.
“I have noticed lots of changes in my son since starting the mentoring, I know when there has been a missed session his mood drops so quickly.
Even though the sessions are just an hour, they really do support him.”
“He is a completely different person after his mentoring session. I can actually get a conversation from him afterwards, which to some people this sounds odd, but as a young person who struggles to communicate, its brilliant.”
“We found out his mentor had a dog. Unfortunately, we cannot have a dog at home, but it's what my son wants to do as a career, be a dog trainer, so he was over the moon. They planned to do activities together with the dog which he really looked forward to.
The mentoring therefore has opened up more opportunities for his future.”
“Him having a mentor has taken some of the stress off me. I was worried he would never trust adults, so I worried as he got older and entered the workplace he would just really struggle. I think mentoring has reduced my worry as his mum as I can see if he does form a bond with a trusted adult, he can be ok.”
“I've had extra support from The Island too, they have joined me on Zoom calls for school meetings.
For example, when we're going through the EHCP, it just goes over my head, but I had support from The Island staff during these meetings. Then afterwards they would ring me to make sure that they were doing everything they should be doing.
This took a lot of the worries off me.”
“I would say to other parents or carers, if this support is offered to your child, just take it. You may think your child couldn’t engage with something like this, but this has been the first step for us to see that light come back into our child.”
Emma began her journey with The Island as a volunteer mentor in 2017 while studying at the University of York. She used the skills and experience she gained whilst working at the charity to strengthen her application for clinical psychology training, the field she now works in eight years later.
Laurence serves as the Chair of Trustees at The Island and alongside his time spent in his leadership role, he has personally mentored three young people through the charity.