That the Parliament congratulates MCR Pathways on its schools-based mentoring programme, recruiting volunteer mentors to support care-experienced young people and others facing ongoing instability; understands that it has been operating across Scotland for almost 20 years, becoming a charity in 2015; notes that, in 2024, it supported 5,109 young people in urban and rural areas across the country; believes that its mentoring intervention is effective in reducing and alleviating the impacts of child poverty, social isolation and adverse childhood experiences; understands that 83% of mentored care-experienced young people stated that having a mentor improved their confidence and helped them understand their talents and strengths; believes that these statistics are due to the early intervention mentoring model, which helps break cycles of inequality and increases wellbeing, giving young people the tools to succeed as they transition into adulthood; understands that the programme has wider societal impacts, such as developing a skilled workforce, helping communities thrive by feeding into Best Start, Brighter Futures programme, enhancing wellbeing, delivering The Promise for care-experienced young people and, overall, contributing to a more fair and equal society, and welcomes MCR Pathways' commitment to continue to work towards engaging with every young person across the whole of Scotland who needs support, wherever they may be, with the help from what it sees as the charity's incredible volunteers, schools and partners.
Supported by:
Karen Adam, Jeremy Balfour, Colin Beattie, Sarah Boyack, Miles Briggs, Alexander Burnett, Foysol Choudhury, Pam Duncan-Glancy, Kenneth Gibson, Dr Pam Gosal MBE, Bill Kidd, Fulton MacGregor, Stuart McMillan, Paul O'Kane, Paul Sweeney, Martin Whitfield, Brian Whittle