During this global crisis, Hope in Tottenham’s concern remains with the local people in Haringey who we exist to help.

By Lilly Miller, Mentoring Manager

 Hope in Tottenham’s Mentoring Programme is growing in its work and although we have pivoted our energy to respond to the impact of Covid-19, we continue to aim to provide hope and opportunities to Tottenham’s young people.

Having previously worked for the charity in 2016, I came back this year as the part time Mentoring Manager. We are grateful for the work of our local partners at North Area MPS, CONEL (College of NE London), Haringey Council, the Record Shop, The Trampery, Blooming Scent Cafe and local churches, among others.

At the start of this year, we had just welcomed a new cohort of young people from CONEL who we had linked with mentors. These mentors had a wealth of experience in the respective employment industry that each young person wanted to pursue. Our mentor meetings have now successfully moved into the virtual sphere and we are supporting mentors in following HiT’s safeguarding policies and procedures, as well as the social distancing guidelines we have all become so familiar with in recent weeks.

It is sad not to be able to go ahead with our planned local mentor recruitment sessions or the mentor training session next month, which was to be kindly hosted by LVMH House. Instead, we are focusing our efforts on reaching young people at home. This involves a partnership with Haringey’s Youth Advisory Board where we are providing short video interviews with some of our creative and entrepreneurial mentors which you can watch here

 

I want to thank all our volunteers who are working so hard for us at the moment as well as the volunteers who are disappointed not to be able to join Hope in Tottenham’s efforts in the current circumstances. Thank you for all your support and we will continue to think creatively about how to provide young people in Haringey with opportunities, guidance and hope for their futures in the current crisis.