WCC Changing Futures Programme Lot 1: Peer Mentoring

In July 2021 Westminster City Council were awarded a grant as part of Changing Futures, an ambitious national programme to improve outcomes for people experiencing multiple disadvantages and affect change on a systemwide level.

The main plank of Westminster's Changing Futures programme is to deliver a Specialist Team for Young Adults (18 - 25-year-olds). A key principle of the programme is that the voice of experts by experience (i.e people with lived experience of multiple disadvantage) is built into the design and delivery of the programme. Furthermore, the experts by experience who supported the development of the bid reported how beneficial it was for them to work with people who had had similar experiences.

We therefore developed the idea of Peer Mentors working with the Specialist Team's cohort of young people. We will procured a Peer Mentoring Service to offer relational and practical assistance to clients, building up positive relationships by, for example, participating in activities and supporting with attending appointments.