Join 1000+ Trained Youth Mentors

About Us

We are one of the few dedicated youth mentoring training and development providers in the UK.

Being a dedicated Youth Mentoring centre rather than a multi-skilled centre has enabled us to focus fully on ensuring our new and experienced youth mentors leave our training as confident and knowledgeable as possible, and ready to enhance or start their new careers.

Everything at The Mentoring Lab has been designed with you in mind and has been purpose built to enable you to achieve your Youth Mentoring goals.

Experienced and Supportive Trainers

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Your training instructor will be Elaine Isadora Thomas, founder and CEO of The Mentoring Lab, who has over two decades of experience in youth mentoring and development. Her Youth Mentoring model follows the proven process of

Reflect - Explore - Reframe - Develop

You will be taught everything you need to know from understanding youth development to confidently supporting young people through complex challenges.

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By the time you leave our training centre, you should feel confident in your knowledge of youth development, which approaches to use in different circumstances, how to build trust and rapport with young people, and how to guide meaningful conversations that create positive change. Couple this theoretical knowledge with practical skills in communication, boundary setting, crisis management, and professional reflection, and you should be feeling ready to start your mentoring career!

Youth Mentor Academy

While we aim to teach you everything you are likely to need to know during your course, we appreciate that sometimes you may need guidance on an unusual situation or challenging case. Through the Youth Mentor Academy we'll guide you through any challenges you may come across even after you have completed your training.

This is where your professional development and career guidance training will prove completely invaluable.

The Youth Mentor Academy can be accessed throughout the year to all trainees and will offer information and guidance on any matters from practical skills to professional boundaries, or even career development, including;

- how to find mentoring opportunities
- how to build your reputation, gain credibility and value with colleagues
- how to develop your mentoring practice
- how to maintain appropriate boundaries while building trust
- how to measure and evidence your impact.

Most importantly, we will give you all the tools for ongoing professional development. Put all of these skills into action and you'll be up and running with meaningful mentoring relationships in no time!

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A Personally Rewarding Career

We have a proven track record in developing successful youth mentors and creating rewarding careers in this field. Due to the current need for skilled mentors across education, social care, and community sectors, we feel there has never been a better time to become a professional youth mentor.

If you are ready to make a difference in young people's lives, there is a personally and professionally rewarding career in youth mentoring waiting for you!

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Hear from Some of Our Past Students

At The Mentoring Lab Training we have a proven track record of positive reviews. We also have some incredible success stories from previous students who have gone on to launch successful mentoring careers across education, social care, and community organisations.

The Mentoring Lab delivered a fantastic, informative, interesting and engaging introductory session to youth mentoring. Elaine led us through the session with great knowledge, tools and insight. I would highly suggest this training to other practitioners!!

Ula Smith

High Trees Community Development Trust

The course facilitator Elaine was brilliant, very engaging. The content of the course was really informative and I've learned loads, and I am already incorporating what I've learnt in my daily practise. Would most definitely recommend!

Babz Carriman

The Shared Learning Trust

Mentoring fantabulous 'Diamonds' in the rough

We believe that the young people we serve are 'diamonds in the rough', with draw-dropping creative thinking, inspiring values and unsurpassable grit that is desperately needed in the British workforce. Yet young people from black and marginalised communities do not have access to solid, reliable guidance in how to focus their skills and talents, to help improve British industries most pressing issues, and improve all of our futures.

Often living in cramped social housing, with a lack of access to green spaces, parents are trying their hardest to raise their children, whilst living with declining physical health, mental health conditions, domestic violence and or long term unemployment.

Where parents are employed, they tend to work long hours to make ends meet, in low paid roles within the City of London as a cleaner, security guard, kitchen staff or for the Public Sector as frontline workers. For both unemployed, overworked and unpaid parents, they unfortunately do not have the capacity to provide the structure or gateways for young people to access quality industry related support networks, learning to achieve opportunities or solid career guidance to safeguard their future.

Real-World Problem Scenarios

Young people's lives are rarely straightforward, and this can cause major problems if you are not prepared to deal with complexity. As such, our scenarios have been purposefully designed to be multi-layered - we will show you an easy method for identifying the core issues and developing appropriate responses so these situations won't overwhelm you in the future. We have role-play exercises covering difficult conversations, crisis intervention scenarios, challenging behaviors, and even situations where you need to involve other professionals.

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Why Should You Choose The Mentoring Lab Training?

✅ Dedicated youth mentoring training centre, fully focused on Youth Mentoring excellence
✅ Bespoke courses designed based on research and feedback. The perfect balance between theory and practical work
✅ Expertly designed training scenarios, built to replicate real-life situations you're likely to encounter
✅ Experienced and supportive trainers with decades of Youth Mentoring experience who ensure rapid confidence building
✅ Learn theoretical knowledge, practical skills, professional boundaries, crisis management and reflective practice
✅ It is our mission to make you successful in making a difference. We guide you through everything needed for success
✅ Start with no mentoring experience, leave with all knowledge and skills needed. Gain career guidance.
✅ Access to our Youth Mentor Academy whenever you need guidance on challenging situations or professional development

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, we would love to hear from you!

Give us a call on +44 (0)208 158 8500 with any questions you have, or to book onto one of our training courses.

Request a Call Back

We understand it can be difficult choosing youth mentoring training, and we would like to help with any questions you have. You can call us for a chat, or alternatively fill in your details below and we will call you.

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How mentoring improves young people's lives

Youth Mentoring enhances the below protective factors;

Positive social networks of support.

Positive adult role models.

Access to services and opportunities.

Social and emotional skills.

Supportive relationships.

Healthy peer relationships.

Improved self-esteem

As a result, Youth Mentoring improves young people's

- Soft skills
- Well being
- Confidence
- Relationships
- Support network
- Attitudes toward learning
- Conflict management skills
- Interpersonal and communication skills
- Growth Mindset
-Organised thinking