intandem Mentoring

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Intandem is Scotland’s national mentoring program, offering mentoring on a regular basis to children and young people involved in the care system. 

Intandem provides scaffolding to support children and young people who are subject to a compulsory supervision or (or at risk of becoming so), living at home or in kinship arrangements.

Intandem brings together young people aged 8-14 with a mentor to build a consistent and trusting relationship, and improve their chances in life. The Scottish Government appointed Inspiring Scotland to lead the development of the intandem program, with YMCA Edinburgh one of the delivery organisations in Edinburgh.  

Intandem aims to focus on and promote the wellbeing of every child who  is matched with a mentor. The focus of every mentoring relationship will  be on supporting the development of the child by listening to them,  recognising and building on their existing strengths and providing  support and encouragement to deal with difficult and challenging  situations in their lives.


Becoming a mentor
As an intandem mentor you  will undergo training and then be matched with a young person referred  to the project. The mentor’s role is to regularly meet up with the young  person (typically once a week for 2 hours), to take part in activities  in the community that are fun and engaging, acting as a listening ear  and positive role model to the child.  The time that mentoring takes  place is flexible and arranged between the young person and mentor,  however it usually occurs out of school hours (evenings or weekends).  Mentoring relationships last at least one year, therefore we require  individuals to make a commitment to a minimum of 1 years mentoring.  Regular support is provided throughout the mentoring relationship,  through meetings with the project coordinator as well as regular  opportunities to meet with other mentors at training events, peer  support nights and social events.