The football club mentors keeping young people out of prison
![James Edwards left, pictured with Radio Bristol presenter Joe Sims (centre) and Sam Downes (right).](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/864/cpsprodpb/2438/live/c3873160-0249-11ef-8ba6-058e05b6689b.png)
Both leaders of the programme had previously been mentored themselves
- Published
"They're not doing one or two hours a week, they're doing 10, 15 sometimes 20 hours a week with these young people."
That's the reality for staff at a mentoring programme run by Bristol City's, external charitable Robins Foundation, which works with some of the city's most vulnerable young people.
But what makes ADD-Mentor special is that it's led by people who needed its help themselves.
The team has now been honoured with a major award.
Last month, in a ceremony at the Houses of Parliament, Bristol City and the Robins Foundation collected EFL Community Project of the Season for its leading mentoring programme.
ADD-Mentor works with young people in Bristol identified by the police as being as being at risk of going to prison, and offers them support.
Robins Foundation chief development officer James Edwards, who secured funding for the project, spoke to the BBC alongside Sam Downes, who runs the scheme with Jade Bailey.
What gives Jade and Sam a unique insight into the problems faced by young people in Bristol is the fact they were both once supported by James too.
"I was one of those kids on the street causing ASB (anti-social behaviour) and stuff, doing things that I shouldn't have been doing," said Sam, now 31.
He was mentored by James from the age of around nine to 15, and told the BBC that it was the long-term approach of mentoring that stopped him from getting into more serious trouble.
"It wasn't just we were going in and out, it was 'actually we're going to work and make this work', and that probably made the difference," he said.
The ADD-Mentor programme was given a major award in March
James had such a significant impact on Sam's life that many years later he was asked to be best man at Sam's wedding, a moment he describes as "probably one of of the proudest moments of my life".
"When Jade and Sam speak to these young people, they aren't people that came from university and speak a different language, they speak and can relate to these young people in a way no one else can," said James.
"They aren't judges, they don't say 'you shouldn't be doing this, you should be doing that' - they just listen."
ADD-Mentor is focused on getting young people into a wide range of activities they might not otherwise have access to - be it cooking, running or football.
Jade and Sam not only find their mentees activities, they also help with transport and stay to support the young people through the sessions.
But they're also on hand to help with the "small bits" as James explains, even getting them to school or taking them to get their hair cut.
"Jade and Same have both had examples of the young person phoning them in the morning to day 'can you come and take me to school because my mum's drunk?'," he said.
"They fill in the gaps that probably you'd expect parents to do. [Maybe] the young person wants to go to school, it's just he hasn't got that support mechanism at home to do it.
"This is where we're opening up these windows and these opportunities and making people understand what's actually happening in the community."
Related Topics
- Published10 July 2023
- Published6 February
- Published4 October 2023