Mentors wanted for London black boys

It’s good to see mentoring supremo Ray Lewis again teamed up with Mayor Boris Johnson.

In 2008 the Eastside Leaders Academy chief was appointed Deputy Mayor (for Young People) but was hounded out of office by the media. Lewis may have made mistakes but a track record of leadership and community service had convinced Boris Johnson of his talent and the role he could play in the lives of young black boys in London.

The negative publicity robbed the Academy of some of its impressive trustees but left Lewis undaunted about his work to improve the lives of disaffected young black men.

Not deterred by the 2008 media onslaught Boris Johnson brought Lewis back to the City Hall last year, this time as ‘The Mayor’s Mentoring Champion’.

Now teamed up with celebrity former footballer Ian Wright, Lewis is heading up a programme to sign up 1,000 black men to act as mentors to young black boys in the capital.

The ‘Time for Action’ programme will launch in April this year and the GLA are appealing for male volunteer mentors to step forward and apply to the programme which aims to ‘provide support and guidance for young men who are at great risk of becoming involved in violence’. They arelooking for ‘volunteers with real life experiences rather than academic qualifications who will help the young men to improve their self-esteem, life choices and prospects’.

The GLA says of the programme; “Volunteers have an important role to play in creating positive and lasting change in our communities. Mentoring is a highly effective and rewarding way to volunteer and the Mayor has put mentoring at the heart of plans to tackle some of the critical issues facing young people in the capital”.

Ray Lewis, the Mayor’s mentoring champion says; “Absent fatherhood is a real problem in the black community, with around 60% of black Caribbean children living in lone-parent households compared to just over 20% of white children.

“The mentoring program is part of that strategy by helping support and guide young boys and men and raises their hopes and aspirations. Just a few hours of your time each week could make a real and positive difference to a young man’s future, his family and safety of this city.”

Since its launch in August last year 280 potential male mentors have signed up but still quite a few short of the 1,000 ‘positive male role models’ City Hall are hoping to attract to mentor the boys and young men ‘who need help to reach their full potential’.

Appealing to volunteers the GLA states: “The mentoring is unpaid but training will be provided, you can develop your skills and experience and it could be one of the most rewarding decisions you make”.

You can register and sign up as a mentor by visiting the GLA website.

Winsome-Grace Cornish