Craigavon youth mentoring group Reach scoops essential funding from KFC Foundation

A Craigavon community group, which helps mentor and empower young people, is one of three groups in NI selected by the KFC Foundation to receive grants.
By Carmel Robinson
Published 1st Sep 2021, 12:33 GMT
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In a year where there has been a significant increase in demand for youth services to help young people through the pandemic, local groups faced tough funding issues.

Reach Mentoring provides mentoring and a network of volunteers to create a safety net for young people. Young people emerge empowered, hopeful, and motivated.

Reach Mentoring will use the grant to part-fund weekly one-to-one mentoring sessions for 14 young people in Craigavon over 12 weeks.

Brownlow Integrated College in Craigavon. Photo courtesy of Google.Brownlow Integrated College in Craigavon. Photo courtesy of Google.
Brownlow Integrated College in Craigavon. Photo courtesy of Google.

A spokesperson for KFC Foundation said: “This mentoring programme was incredibly successful during the pandemic as young people were provided with a safe space to talk with a positive role model and it helped them to overcome significant obstacles and difficult life circumstances. This funding will provide Reach with the ability to continue giving young people safe spaces to share concerns about life, talk through trauma and explore issues of grief.”

Richard Preston, Founding Leader, Reach Mentoring: “We are hugely grateful to the KFC Foundation for their support. This funding is enabling us to come alongside and support young people in our local community to support them as they navigate through life’s challenges.”

Principal Brownlow Integrated College, Craigavon Nicola Stevenson said: “Many young people in our school face emotional wellbeing problems that drastically affect their chances of a good education. Reach have had an obvious impact on the young people they work with in our school and with further support and funding this would increase.”

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