Y's Girls
Y’s Girls mentoring project matches trained volunteer mentors with young women aged 9-14 to support them to be their best.
The Y’s Girls programme offers a range of support for girls aged 9-14 to support them to thrive. The programme has developed from our learning of delivering successful group work and one2one interventions bringing together the most impactful interventions Y’s Girls has been expanded and redesigned with a new format launched in September 2025. The new format comprises of both group work and one2one mentoring:
Group Work
Y’s Girls starts with the girls attending a six-week programme of targeted group work sessions which are delivered by the Project Co-ordinator focused around issues specifically relating to women/girls including healthy relationships, grooming, online safety, self esteem and confidence.
Throughout the 6 week group work sessions the progress of the girls is continually assessed by the PC with a view to identifying any girls that continue to display certain high risk behaviour.
Those girls who have completed the group work but require further support may then be referred onto the one-2-one mentoring phase of the programme which will either be Y’s Mentoring or Targeted Mentoring.
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Y’s Mentoring
The Y’s Girls programme is an early and effective mentoring initiative that matches trained volunteer mentors from a range of different backgrounds in the Bradford community with female-identifying young people aged 9-14 years old to support them to overcome challenges and achieve their fullest potential in life.
Over a 6-12 month period, the mentors and young people will meet regularly and work together on identifying achievable goals to empower the mentees to take ownership of their own development and education and explore their dreams and interests. The sessions will offer an informal environment where the girls can discuss anything that might be worrying them whilst trying out new activities alongside their mentor.
Y’s Girls aims to help build resilience and reduce the likelihood of young girls developing mental health concerns, by developing their confidence, skills and engagement with their communities.
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Could you inspire and empower girls in your community as a Y’s Girls mentor?
It was a great pleasure being part of the wonderful Ys girls project and I absolutely loved every minute of it! Mentoring a child and helping them grow is an amazing experience that gave me a lot of new insight even as a mother to my own children. It is amazing how fulfilled you feel when you give without any expectations to receive. And I did actually get so much back from my lovely mentee and her family which was often touching and unexpected!
Over the initial 19-month pilot, Y’s Girls has matched 270 girls to adult mentors and was awarded Family & Youth Work Project of the Year at the Youth Matters Awards 2022. An external evaluation conducted by the Centre for Youth Impact found that Y’s Girls is an early and effective intervention that positively impacts six social and emotional learning skills that are indicative of better short and long-term mental health, that it is a young-person-centred and inclusive programme, with a clear relationship between quality and impact.
Family & Youth Work Project of the Year at the Youth Matters Awards 2022
Family & Youth Work Project of the Year at the Youth Matters Awards 2022
Family & Youth Work Project of the Year at the Youth Matters Awards 2022
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