Source: Telegraph >> Read full article and comment
Older people are becoming mentors to troubled teenagers in a Government-backed project that hopes to prove “granny knows best”.
By Martin Beckford
Published: 7:01AM BST 14 Jun 2010
More than 50 “Grandmentors” will be assigned to young people in London, providing them with support and advice.
The aim is that the retired volunteers will help the 14- to 19 year-olds in their care return to education or find work, improving their career prospects and turning them away from a life of crime.
Lord Freud, the Conservative peer who is now a junior minister for welfare reform, proposed the idea to Community Service Volunteers.
He said: “I think there is huge, untapped resource of older and retired people who could transform the lives of youngsters, many of whom don’t have someone independent to talk to. I also think there’s huge potential in jumping a generation to help tackle some of the serious problems facing young people in our society. I think it’s much harder to grow up with so many competing pressures, but there are many older people who could provide practical and emotional support.”..Continue reading
