SAYes Mentoring - Support our UK Programmes

Since our last report, the SAYes Mentoring circle has grown wider and louder in the best way. Our mentor community came together in person this summer, with meetups in London at Regent's Park, in Cape Town at the Academy of Digital Arts (with a Women's Day theme) and in Berlin, plus an alumni meetup in London. Mentors are volunteers, and these gatherings give them a place to share what they are learning and feel part of something bigger than their own match.

July brought Mandela Month and our Night at the Musicals fundraiser, and our co-founders Michelle Potter and Gillian Anderson announced their role as One Young World counsellors. Our team also attended LSEG Foundation Day, where a possible collaboration with Malaika came up.

We have new partners and a new programme to share. The Zurich Foundation partnership is underway, with new matches beginning. Helpmore Charities is sponsoring 10 new matches outright and encouraging its community to fund more. In South Africa, we are launching a structured three-month mentorship programme for young people in residential care and vulnerable households, focused on education, employability and reducing risk. We will share more detail as it takes shape.

On 9 September, SAYes turned 18. Every one of those years is made of one-to-one relationships, and the young people at the centre keep proving why they matter. Kwabena, a mentee in the UK who was featured in our newsletter for his debut novel, publishes his second novel this October. Thank you for being part of the circle that makes these matches possible.