The funding impacted 3 people who were training as mentors which allowed 3 kiwi boys to get a mentor. However, indirectly this has big ripple effects for the work that the Big Buddy Mentoring Trust can continue to do for these boys in the community. The flow on effects are the mentors enjoy themselves and for the caregivers of these children, it makes their lives easier.
Russell explained that he was told a story the other day from one of the mothers giving feedback on her son’s experience in the programme. “She said she thought the programme would involve a male coming along to teach her son how to fix a car or ride a bike etc. But it turned into something much different, teaching boy various lifeskills e.g. turning up when you should, being a respectable person, commitment to something, goals etc.”