Our aim is to help young people unlock their potential, no matter their circumstances. Working together with our inspiring mentor community and partners, we can help young people to realise their skills and progress onto a positive destination. Our vision is for all young people to experience equality of education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances.
Every young person has enormous talent, however care-experienced pupils and other young people identified to us by their schools may be struggling to engage with their education. We aim to support many young people including young carers, asylum seekers or those who have suffered significant family bereavement or disruption at home.
The ScotCen 2020 Research Study showed that prior to the introduction of mentoring, 59.8% of care-experienced young people progressed to full-time employment, college or university. This rose to 81.6% of our mentored young people. By connecting each young person with a mentor, we can give pupils the support they need to succeed.
We support young people with diverse, engaging and inspiring opportunities to help them identify their talent and have the confidence to progress to a positive post-school destination. MCR Pathways works with young people from primary 7 (year 6 in England) and works with them right up until they leave school.
Each secondary school has a designated Pathways Coordinator (PC) who is there to identify and support those who will benefit from the programme. The young people work with the Coordinator in weekly Group Work for the first two years before mentoring begins from S3 (year 9), when they can be matched with a mentor. Throughout their time in the programme, young people can also have the chance to sample different places of work and studies through our Talent Taster programme.
MCR mentoring transforms lives. It is our aim that every young person should have the same opportunities and life chances as every other young person, irrespective of their background.
There’s amazing potential in the young people we support, potential we wish to see nurtured so they can thrive. Mentors make a life-changing difference by simply spending one hour a week listening and being there for their young person. By helping to build their confidence and nurture self-esteem, MCR mentors empower their young person to unlock their future.
Read about one young person from the perspective of her Pathways Coordinator: “Katie was great to work with, she had a great relationship with her mentor and I am very proud of her achievements.”
This is an incredible story of one young person who suffered greatly in their early life but overcame the odds. The programme and Yao’s mentor gave him the tools to succeed and he is now thriving.
MCR supports young people across Scotland, including: Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Perth & Kinross, Shetland, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire.
In 2021 MCR Pathways expanded to England, specifically in schools across the Hertfordshire and Surrey regions.
We work in partnership with each of the local authorities in which we operate and are delighted to have the backing of our funders as we grow across the United Kingdom. Read more about MCR Pathways in England here.
MCR Pathways
Mitchell Library,
Berkeley Street
Glasgow,
UK
G3 7DN
MCR Pathways is a SCIO regulated by OSCR,
Scottish Charity number SC045816
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