It has been the best experience for me and I hope other young people get to experience that too. They are committed and won’t let you down. Go for it, you only get one life.”
REAL MENTORSHIP WHEN YOU NEED IT
SAYes is building a future where high quality relational support is available to every young person who seeks it, regardless of chance differences of background, geography or circumstance.
To support this goal we inspire businesses, governments, and individuals to make social change donations that matter. This allows us to offer world-class mentorships for young people, totally free.
THE COMMITMENT YOU MAKE TO YOURSELF
Hour
MONTHS
of calls
We currently work with young people from many different backgrounds and contexts. We encourage applications from young people who are facing challenging circumstances, including care-experienced young people, young people with mental health challenges, young people from minority groups and communities, and young people facing significant life transitions.
We unlock more programme slots, as we unlock funding. Below are the programmes that are currently funded.
SAYes Mentoring is committed to making mentorship available to every young person who wants it.
We are working hard at securing new programmes in new regions.
If you are an individual or organisation that would like to sponsor a mentorship or mentorship programme in your region, please book an introductory meeting below:
“My advice to prospective Mentees would be to join SAYes. My interactions with my mentor were always confidential, fun, and sometimes emotional. I felt safe and comfortable and was eventually able to open up. “
52% “life-changing”, 38% “much positive impact” and 9% “some positive impact”. Similar figures were reported in 2020 / 2021 Annual Reports.
45% “life-changing”, 44% “much positive”, 11% “some positive”. SAYes achieved a near identical result in 2020 / 2021 Annual Reports.
79% “a lot more focused than before”,
76% “a lot more resilient than before”.
75% “yes – a lot more conscious than before” and, 75% “yes – a lot more focused than before”.
74% “I love SAYes”, 18% “Really good feeling”, 8% “Good feeling”. SAYes achieved similar results in 2020 / 2021 Annual Reports.
“It’s the first NPO that was actually interested in the progress of the people it targeted, unlike others who do it just for show. It provided people the opportunity to make lifetime friends across oceans and wouldn’t have even been in their dreams had it not.”
– SAYes Mentee
“It was exactly what I expected to be, it was the thing I needed to push me to my limit.”
– SAYes Mentee
So that you can gain valuable perspective on yourself, and grow.
So that you can build your network and options.
So that you stay confident and connected.
Consciousness raising
Raise awareness and acceptance.
Enriching opportunities
Explore and discover new interests
Improving focus
Plan and pursue goals
Accountability & resIlience
Evaluate and adjust
SAYes programmes target improvements in independence (via the quality of decision making) and well-being (via the consistency of healthy practices) across ten domains:
How can you grow knowledge, creativity and understanding?
How can you become skilled; in ways which are useful to others, and in managing your money?
How can you look after a household; and manage all this involves?
How can you add more pleasure, fun/flow and meaning to your life?
How can you connect, lead and strengthen communities?
How can you create, maintain and repair relationships?
How can you understand and manage your feelings in action?
How can you look after your body?
How can you look after your mind?
How can you build your own story?
Prospective Mentors and Mentees are taught to understand and contextually apply expertise from interdisciplinary behavioural and social science (including cognitive neuroscience), and have access to actionable and personalised tools, tactics and strategies for positive behaivoural and perspective change.
SAYes content is delivered in monthly group settings (workgroups and support sessions) as well as in individual appointments with SAYes Transition Specialists.
All content is designed to be used relationally, that is, with a mentor – and to target multiple levers for behaviour change.
60-90 minutes one-on-one session.
Choose your own Mentor.
Formally initiating your mentorship.
One-to-one conversations focused on your development and growth (video calls).
Online monthly domain-focused workshops accessing tools, tactics and strategies.
Developing and implementing your transition plan.
Celebrating your commitment to the mentorship journey, and looking ahead to new mentorships.
Join the official SAYes Alumni Group. Optional Ambassador & Mentee Liaison opportunities.
The SAYes Alumni Group is a youth-led initiative, led by a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson who are voted for by the Alumni members and has a number of chapters in different parts of the world.
SAYes Ambassadors are Alumni who work on a part-time basis for SAYes. Their main goal is to recruit, inspire and inform new prospective mentees, mentors and partners, while also supporting the delivery of current programming.
Ambassadors are engaged for specific programme remits. For example, our Cape Town Care-experienced Ambassadors carry out workshops in Child and Youth Care Centres, sharing their journey through mentorship and how it impacted their lives. Ambassadors also share their experiences about what life is like outside of a residential care home. The aim is to prepare those young people who may soon be leaving the care system.
Our UK Ambassador teams are actively involved in recruiting mentees at various colleges and youth events throughout London. Ambassadors also inform programme design and engage with policy and research groups.
Ambassador positions are advertised through the SAYes Alumni groups.
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Mentee Liaison
Mentee Liaison
Mentee Liaison
“It was a place like home where I can share everything with my mentor and I didn’t want to miss a week without attending because of the joy and enjoying the program.”
“SAYes helped me become a better version of myself and build more confidence. This program made me feel good about myself and helped me build my self-esteem.”
“SAYes members are friendly and easy to talk too. They are willing to help where they can and if they can’t they will explain why that is. They love all the people that they work with and love what they do.”
“Because of SAYes I have experienced some amazing mentors and have had wonderful experiences. SAYes helped me to build networks and made heading into varsity a lot more possible. I can’t picture where I am now without SAYes.”
“SAYes has given me the best experience and better knowledge on things that I didn’t know. Talking with someone who is outside of your circle means a lot because my Mentor gave me advice on things I was struggling with and I value her so much.”
“Finding a mentor or getting someone to commit their time for you on a weekly basis to give you free advice and guide you through life is nearly impossible. In a country like SA where most young adults are raised in single parent households, this is a great initiative to provide guidance and support.”
SAYes WILL NOT share personalised data. Data protection is a legitimate concern for both SAYes mentors and mentees internationally. View our data protection policies and privacy notice below:
