A Your Hearts and Minds community grant is providing funding to continue a mentoring project which provides early intervention to young students in Stainforth and Thorne who are demonstrating signs of anxiety and worry, which is negatively impacting their mental health and school experience.
The mentoring support is provided by charity Worth Unlimited into Long Toft Primary, Holy Family Primary, Kirton Primary, Ash Hill and Trinity Academy, and has been running for three years. After the initial funding from the council ended, the project has been relying on grant funding to continue, and our community grant of £3,000 will pay for 16 young people to receive one-to-one mentoring over 12 sessions lasting 30 minutes over the next 12 months.
We visited Holy Family Primary to talk to Worth Unlimited Mentor Carol Parker-Cowan and school Safeguarding Manager Margery Courtney to hear about how this support is making such a difference there.
Margery said:
“For many families in our local community it’s not been the norm to talk about how they’re feeling.
“Poor behaviour can be a symptom of anxiety in young people, so having the opportunity to intervene at an early stage and refer them to Carol means we can avoid them spiralling into a place whereby they’re unable to function in school or their day-to-day lives.”
She added:
“Giving them access to the mentoring programme means they have time and space to understand what it is that’s affecting their mental health and come up with strategies to help them move forward and flourish.
“I really can’t stress what a difference this mentoring makes, every child who’s taken part has been helped. We’ve seen their confidence and self-esteem increase and even their grades improve.”
Carol has become a well-loved and trusted person by the children, and their families, helping them to talk openly about their anxiety and worries and understand the triggers.
She said:
“Social media, exam stress and even moving from one key stage to the next are just some of the issues that come up in our conversations, so we develop strategies to overcome these.
“We help the young people to develop a good understanding of mental health and that it’s just as important as physical health.
“We work together to recognise that ‘it’s okay to not be okay’, but not for too long, so we create a ‘first aid kit’ they can use when they need it.”
She added:
“We never give up on a young person. If, at the end of the 12 weeks they need more support, we make sure they receive it.
“This funding means we can continue to empower them to achieve their potential.”
Published: September 18, 2025