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Facts and figures
Dip into the stats below – it gives a snapshot of how mentoring and befriending projects and their volunteers look today plus some views on how and where it is having an impact.
Did you know that…?
Over 3,000 mentoring and befriending projects have been mapped by us to date. This figure is growing all the time – register and join our network so that we can count your project
Of these, 70% are identified as mentoring projects and 30% as befriending projects
The percentage of projects working with different age groups is: ages 0-11 (13%), ages 12-16 (27%), ages 17 to 24 (25%), ages 25 to 49 (16%) and ages 50+ (19%)
Over 560 mentoring and befriending projects have been accredited with MBF’s quality award, the Approved Provider Standard (APS), with a further 110 currently committed to working towards achieving the standard.
Client groups that these APS projects are working with are as follows:
330 with young people
92 – lonely, isolated, housebound people
85 – offenders and ex-offenders
68 – people with substance/addiction issues
51 – people with physical and learning disabilities
51 – people with mental health problems
28 – people not in education, employment or training
24 – people in care or leaving care
18 – people who are homeless or in housing need
18 – carers
18 – families
14 – Black and Minority Ethnic Communities
81 – other client groups
Our 2010 funding survey of mentoring and befriending projects in England revealed that:
- Most projects support between 21 and 50 relationships a year
- 70% of projects have been running for between three and 12 years with 12% running for more than 12 years
- 46% of projects receive their main source of funding from a local authority and 15% from a charitable trust
- The level of funding received by the majority of projects (41%) is between £1,000 and £24,999 per year
- 63% of funders asked for evidence of the Approved Provider Standard as part of a grant application process
- 58% of projects have seen a greater demand for their service over the last year
- Just under half of the projects (47%) have seen an increase in volunteer applications
Statistics about volunteer mentors and befrienders in two recent surveys:
- 21% of people had been involved as mentoring and befriending volunteers
- There was an even split between male and female volunteer mentors and befrienders
- 16-25 year olds were the most likely to befriend or mentor people (26%) than other age groups
- There were more volunteer mentors and befrienders from ethnic minority groups (28%) than other groups
- Overall, 23% of volunteer mentors and befrienders are from groups at risk of social exclusion
(2008-09 Citizenship Survey, Communities and Local Government, April 2010)
- 89% of volunteer believe they have gained new skills and experience by helping others with 83% reporting improved interpersonal and communication skills and 56% gaining confidence and self-esteem. Seventy six per cent are more active in the community as a result of their volunteering
- Benefits from volunteering include gaining work experience (36%), finding employment (15%), boosting qualifications (20%), changing careers (15%) with 22% saying that volunteering has helped to provide better support to their own family(Mentoring and Befriending Service User and Volunteer Survey, Supporting Life’s Journeys Campaign, 2010)
Some quotes showing positive outcomes from people who have benefited from a mentor or befriender…
“My self belief has gone up…. She is a positive role model and you could not have paired me up with anyone better” (Splitz – service user)
“Since having a befriender my self confidence has improved, everyone comments on it! I feel far more in control of my life than I used to.” (Framework Housing Association – service user)
“Before the mentoring started I did not really know what the future held for me. I now know what I want to do in my future. This has provided me with a goal and given me something to work towards and it has changed my life. I now focus more on the future and think about ways of improving it and preserving it” (Ealing Looked After Children Education Team – service user)
See our case study bank to find out more about the positive outcomes of mentoring and befriending
