For social workers and personal advisers
You know what a young person needs. You may not know a marketing director, a site manager or a nurse who will give them half an hour. We do. Send us the referral and we handle the matching, the mentor checks and the booking.
How referrals work
01Check they are eligible
18 and over can book straight away. 16 to 18 needs written consent from a parent, guardian or the adult with responsibility, plus a sponsoring organisation. We do not mentor under 16s.
02Send us the referral
First name, age, city, what they want help with, and your contact details. One email is enough, and there is no form to chase down.
03We confirm consent and match a mentor
For anyone under 18 we check consent is in place and match only mentors holding a current enhanced DBS check, or the recognised equivalent abroad. We verify before the match, not after.
04The session is booked
A free 30-minute session at a time that works for them. You stay copied in as the named contact, and we tell you when it is booked and when it is done.
What we need from you
Do not send us records, assessments or anything you would not normally share. We only need enough to match the right mentor and keep the session safe.
Safeguarding
DBS-checked mentors for under 18s
Anyone matched with a 16 to 18 year old holds a current enhanced DBS check, or the recognised equivalent in their country, verified by us before the match.
Consent before the first session
Written consent from a parent or legal guardian, held on record, and withdrawable at any time without a reason.
You stay the named contact
A named adult is the first point of contact throughout. You can raise a concern, pause a match or stop the sessions at any point.
Sessions stay on the record
Everything runs on mentorhero. Mentors never move a young person to private contact, and the code of conduct is agreed before they mentor anyone.
Who to refer
Mentoring is career advice, not therapy, crisis support or advocacy. If a young person needs those, keep them with the right service and refer for mentoring when the time is right.
Common questions
No. Sessions for care leavers and young people referred by social workers are free. Employers and universities fund the mentoring capacity.
Yes. Tell us roughly how many and when, and we will set the group up rather than handling each referral separately.
Most referrals are matched within a few working days. Very specific industries can take a little longer, and we will tell you if that happens.
Only what you send and a record of sessions booked and attended. Do not send case records or assessments.
Mentors are briefed to raise anything worrying with us immediately, and we contact the named adult. Sessions are on the record and can be paused at any point.
Got someone in mind? Send the referral now and we will come back to you.
Start a referral