Thank You National Lottery Players
Celebrating a Year of Community Mentoring Success
As the 2025/26 academic year comes to a close, everyone at Headspace is celebrating the successful completion of the first full year of the North Cotswolds Community Mentoring Network.
Made possible through funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the project was launched in partnership with The Cotswold School to provide young people with something many desperately need – a trusted adult who can listen, encourage and help them navigate the challenges they face.
One year on, the impact has exceeded our expectations.
A Year of Real Impact
Throughout the academic year, the programme supported 45 young people, delivering 399 one-to-one mentoring sessions across the North Cotswolds.
Rather than taking place in schools, mentoring sessions were delivered within local communities, allowing relationships to develop naturally in safe, welcoming environments. Whether meeting over a hot drink, taking a walk, enjoying an activity together or simply talking, mentors provided young people with consistent support at a time when many were struggling with anxiety, low confidence, school attendance, family pressures and emotional wellbeing.
The programme gathered momentum throughout the year as more young people were referred and additional volunteer mentors completed their training.
Across the six school terms we delivered:
Term 1: 11 young people supported, 46 mentoring sessions
Term 2: 22 young people supported, 70 mentoring sessions
Term 3: 20 young people supported, 70 mentoring sessions
Term 4: 21 young people supported, 58 mentoring sessions
Term 5: 19 young people supported, 73 mentoring sessions
Term 6: 19 young people supported, 82 mentoring sessions
By the final term, mentoring activity had almost doubled compared with the start of the year, reflecting both the growing demand for the service and the confidence that schools, families and young people have placed in the programme.
Powered by Our Community
At the heart of the project is an incredible team of volunteer community mentors.
Every mentor completed specialist training before being carefully matched with a young person. Throughout the year they received ongoing supervision, safeguarding support and regular opportunities to continue developing their skills, ensuring every young person received safe, high-quality mentoring.
These volunteers have generously given hundreds of hours of their time to support the next generation, demonstrating the power of communities coming together to improve young people's lives.
The relationships built over the past year have helped young people increase their confidence, improve emotional wellbeing, develop resilience and strengthen their engagement with education, family life and their local community.
Thank You
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund and every person who plays The National Lottery. Your support has enabled us to establish an innovative community mentoring programme that is already making a lasting difference to the lives of young people across the North Cotswolds.
We would also like to thank The Cotswold School for their continued partnership, our dedicated volunteer mentors for their commitment and compassion, our partner organisations and families for their ongoing support, and most importantly the young people who placed their trust in us.
This programme has shown what can be achieved when a community works together to support its young people.
Looking Ahead
The first year has demonstrated just how valuable community mentoring can be.
Much of the programme has been centred around our successful partnership with The Cotswold School, where the model has become an important part of the support available to young people. However, we know that the need extends much further across the North Cotswolds.
Our ambition is now to replicate this successful approach alongside Chipping Campden School, ensuring that more young people have access to the same trusted community-based support, regardless of where they live.
To make this possible, we are actively seeking funding to expand the programme. It costs around £20,000 per year to operate a mentoring scheme at each school, covering volunteer recruitment, training, safeguarding, supervision, coordination and the delivery of mentoring throughout the academic year.
By investing in early intervention, we can help more young people build resilience before challenges become crises, while strengthening communities through local volunteering.
We'll also be recruiting a new cohort of volunteer community mentors this October. If you've ever considered making a genuine difference in a young person's life, we'd love to hear from you. Our volunteer mentors receive comprehensive training, ongoing support and become part of a growing network dedicated to improving the lives of young people across the North Cotswolds.
Full details of our October mentor recruitment and training programme will be announced over the coming weeks, so please keep checking our website and social media channels for updates.
Whether through funding, partnership opportunities or volunteering, every contribution helps us build stronger communities and brighter futures for young people across the North Cotswolds. Together, we can ensure this life-changing programme continues to grow for many years to come.