Real United Community Mentoring (CIC) is an independent young people’s service that uses a combination of one to one and family mentoring, sports and creative activities and educational workshops designed to enhance the lives of young people in Nottingham who are particularly at risk of school exclusion, criminal offence and substance misuse.

We provide:

• Early Intervention (for ages 5-18)
• Specialist Intervention (for ages 14-24)
• One to one mentoring with young people and their families, in the home and in the community
• Family mediation
• Advocacy support
• Sports activities and coaching, and music and dance activities
• Workshops on gang culture and substance misuse/dealing
• Focus on supporting black and ethnic minority communities, and provision for non-English speaking clients

We work directly in the family home, as well as in schools, out in the community and with private clients.

We currently operate in the whole of Nottinghamshire

Real United Community Mentoring is currently supported by: Nottingham Crime & Drugs Partnership, The Partnership Council Radford, Nottingham Voluntary Action Centre (NCVS), Nottingham Community Foundation, FRANK, Football Foundation, Kick It Out and European Social Fund. We work in partnership with local services Heronridge Homes, helping to support the needs of young people in temporary accommodation; and Johnson & Johnson Solicitors, providing peer advocacy support.

Background to Real United Community Mentoring

May 2008:

Real United Community Football Club is set up by club manager Roger Henry. Its mission is to use football to steer young people away from substance misuse and criminal activity, to increase their self confidence and personal management skill, and help them progress into education, work and training.

September 2009:

Real United Community FC goes into Djanogly City Academy Nottingham to deliver a programme of lunchtime football and music coaching activities and educational workshop to a selection of Djanogly’s Year 7 to 9 students, working within the Academy’s Early Intervention initiative. This five term pilot results in two successful showcase events, and one student is invited to join Notts County football team.

February 2010:

By this point the Real United programme has expanded to include delivery of one to one mentoring sessions to the students, as it was quickly realised that as well as group sessions, students would benefit greatly from one to one support that would address and work with their individual needs. It was also realised that involving the school and the whole family in the mentoring process would provide a more stable structure for the students’ support...and so Real United Community Mentoring is born.

Our aims:

• To cultivate strong relationships between young people and their mentors.
• To enhance young people’s self esteem, confidence and motivation, and encourage them to emphasise their own positive qualities.
• To develop strengths and talents whilst demonstrating how these skills are transferable into other areas of their lives.
• To teach young people how to manage conflict and their own emotions and behaviours, and to gain and understanding and acceptance of the consequences of their behaviours.
• To set realistic targets for achieving goals for improved behaviour, performance and attitude.
• To support young people to make the move back into education, or into suitable work and training.
• To provide an approach to self knowledge and empowerment that is holistic and appropriate to their level of understanding.

Expected outcomes:

• Improvements in school attendance
• Improvements in behaviour, attitude and school performance
• Improvements in communication and relationships between young people, their families and schools
• Reduced incidents of bullying
• Reduced incidents of youth offending and substance misuse

A cohesive community: benefits of Real United’s services

Benefits to young people:

• Information and any support they need from a personal mentor on a whole range of issues important to them e.g. careers, education, training, employment, life issues, peer culture, personal development, emotional health, family life, housing, finance etc.
• Help in tackling problems such as drugs, bullying and interpersonal conflict

Benefits to families:

• A supporting and nurturing relationship with a mentor
• Improvements to interpersonal relationship and communication within the family
• Connection with community and access to community services

Benefits to community:

• Increased protective factors for reducing crime and family violence
• Response to community needs
• Training and development for mentors and volunteers
• A partnership across local government, schools and community