Hope for the Young’s Evaluation Report

In 2024, Hope for the Young (HftY) commissioned an independent mixed-method evaluation of its’ mentoring, grants and advocacy services.

Young people reported that they really enjoyed and benefitted from having a Volunteer Mentor. Alongside achieving their goals and progressing academically, HftY’s support helped them to develop their English language and independent living skills, make friends and feel more integrated in society; feel healthier physically and mentally; and more confident, settled and less anxious. Mentoring also benefited the Volunteer Mentors, who found the experience highly rewarding, inspirational and a great learning opportunity.

“They are like a family because we're here without family … in a strange country, they're like a family. Yeah, they support everything.” Mentee

Although the grants awarded by HftY were modest (a maximum of £4,500), recipients reported that they were critical in enabling them to pursue desired courses and focus on their education. These grants often covered living and ‘in between costs’, difficult to find funding for elsewhere. Moreover, they provided leverage to secure other educational grants and HftY also provided supporting evidence for these applications.

“If it wasn't for HftY, maybe I wouldn't even have started university … I was just so worried … even if I get a scholarship, who's going to pay for my living costs and all that?" Grantee

Alongside the financial grants, Grantees also reported that HftY’s additional advocacy and support around emotional and mental health issues had helped them get onto appropriate courses, integrate into their communities and manage emerging crises. For many, the support provided by HftY helped them remain in education altogether.

A common thread that emerged throughout this evaluation was the extent to which young people felt and appreciated that someone cared for them, and who they could turn to for advice and support. They valued HftY’s understanding, holistic services and the accessible user-friendly processes.

The staff and trustees at HftY were praised for their enthusiasm, dedication and understanding of the issues faced by young asylum seekers and refugees and for having developed a unique and responsive model of support to meet young asylum seekers and refugees’ diverse and complex needs.

Many of the challenges faced by the young people and by HftY derive from the current UK immigration law and the asylum support system. On top of the young people’s isolation, high and often complex needs and previous trauma, they experience severe delays, legal limbo and poor living conditions, while awaiting a decision on their asylum application. Many young people HftY work with can be dispersed from their accommodation by the Home Office with little warning and are expected to move away from existing support networks and education courses at short notice, or if their status changes. This requires HftY to provide an emergency in-depth response and utilise volunteer caseworkers to support the team.

The evaluation made a number of key recommendations including:
– Continue to provide and develop the mentoring, grants and advocacy services in a responsive and holistic way.
– Explore the possibility of providing longer-term, in-depth support and/or emergency casework.
– Focus on and assess the specific mentoring needs among young women.
– Recruit more male volunteer mentors and work towards a wider diversity of Volunteer Mentor backgrounds and professions.
– Develop the training and retention of Volunteer Mentors.
– Continue to be youth-centred and develop opportunities for co-production with young people in proportionate and accessible ways.
– Co-design pathways for young people to progress in their chosen careers, after they graduate from education.
– Improve the quality and accuracy of data collection and reporting, without overburdening service users, Volunteer Mentors or staff.

Overall, the HftY model shows the need, scope and benefits of providing a comprehensive, holistic and responsive package of support to young asylum seekers and refugees, which while centring on education also focuses on their other life challenges and wider needs. It has the potential to be scaled up and/or replicated in other parts of the country.

“… it's humbling to work with these young people: they've overcome things that they've probably not even described or articulated. And yet underneath there is some resilience, some determination, however frustrated they get, to build new lives for themselves.” Mentor