Mentor a young person in Edinburgh and you can help change a life.
We match volunteer mentors with young people to meet once a week in Edinburgh to achieve a goal together.
The goal can be anything the young person chooses – from learning to play an instrument; taking an art class; or going to the gym, the choice is theirs!
A consistent and trusted adult in a young person’s life can support them to take part in new experiences, develop skills, and increase their confidence.
Our next training for mentors will start in March. If you’re interested in mentoring a young person in Edinburgh, please contact Amy on amy.dunn@moveon.org.uk or 0131 558 3740 with any questions or to sign up.
Our young people
We support young people aged 14-25.
Young people are referred to our mentoring service for many different reasons. These can include low attendance at school, welfare issues at home, lack of positive social networks, poor mental health, or being bullied.
Many of our young people are referred to Move On by schools, social care, or NHS Scotland Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Our mentors
We welcome mentors from all walks of life. You don’t need to have any previous experience or qualifications.
Our only requirements are that mentors are 18 years old+ and can commit approximately an hour a week for at least six months.
Our mentors have a genuine passion for helping young people, accept others for who they are, and can listen and offer encouragement without judgement.
Our mentors have a genuine passion for helping young people, accept others for who they are, and can listen and offer encouragement without judgement.
The impact a mentor can make
The role of a mentor is to provide a supportive relationship to help a young person achieve a realistic goal of their choice.
As part of achieving their goal, young people will often take part in new experiences, increase their confidence and self-esteem, develop skills and build positive social networks.
Mentors also often support the young person to maintain, re-engage with or seek out education, training and employment opportunities.
Euan and Jordan’s mentoring match
Watch our mentor match, Euan and Jordan, share the impact mentoring has had on their lives.
How to become a mentor
We know that becoming a mentor can be nerve-wracking, so we aim to make the process as simple as possible!
- Please contact Amy on amy.dunn@moveon.org.uk or 0131 558 3740 to register your interest
- Complete our mentor training, so you feel completely ready for your new role
- After you have been matched with a young person, a member of our team will take you both out together a couple of times so that you can get to know each other
- You will then meet up with the young person in Edinburgh for an hour or two every week to work towards a goal of their choice
Meetings will be arranged for a day of the week and time that suits you both.
Travel and activity expenses will be covered by Move On.
A rewarding opportunity
Mentoring is often as life-changing for mentors as it is for young people. Mentors regularly tell us that they feel more confident, less stressed and have a better sense of purpose in their life.
As well as a way to develop personally, our mentoring service is a unique opportunity to enhance your CV, with mentors improving their leadership and management skills, and many employers highly valuing volunteering.
Importantly our mentoring service is a great way to learn new skills and have fun – whether you’re learning to speak a new language, playing a sport or trying your hand at arts and crafts!
Our mentoring service is accredited by the Scottish Mentoring Network and won their Social Care Project of the Year award in 2018.
Mentor training in March 2026
Our next training for mentors in Edinburgh is due to start in March:
- Tues. 10th, Thurs. 12th, Tues. 17th, and Thurs. 19th March
- Online
- 5:30pm-8pm
If you’re interested in mentoring a young person in Edinburgh, please contact Amy on amy.dunn@moveon.org.uk or 0131 558 3740 with any questions or to sign up.