In COVID, the support went online through weekly video calls, enabling us to match South African mentees with mentors from all over the world as well as to reach many other groups of young people seeking mentorship.
Version 50, Published Feb 2024
Massive thanks to volunteer Keith Shone, for compiling and regularly updating this amazing resource.
“This is the most impressive document I’ve ever seen” – SAYes Mentor.
We unlock more programme slots, as we unlock funding.
We offer core programmes for care-experienced young people throughout South Africa as well as customised programmes with community and business partners.
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.
To find out if we have a programme available for you, click the learn more button below.
We unlock more programme slots through our global community of donors and business partnerships.
We offer world-class mentorship training, connecting independent volunteers and business teams across a range of mentorship programmes in SA and the UK.
Since 2008, SAYes has worked with young people living in or recently exited from Child and Youth Care Centres (Children’s Homes).
Through our core programme funding, SAYes offers partnerships to Child and Youth Care Centres in South Africa at no cost. We are committed to making mentorship available to every young person who wants it. We also work with other community-based organisations, non-profits, and educational partners in various collaborative arrangements. To refer a young person or to learn more about partnering with us:
Youth Development Coordinator
SOS Children’s Village Cape Town
AMINA PULULU
SAYES AMBASSADOR, SOUTH AFRICA
Care leaver representatives from the SAYes Alumni took part in the first ever closed sessions with children and young people in the South African Parliament in May 2021. Their submission was to amend the Children’s Act in favour of better support for care leavers.
The Alumni’s proposed solution was clear – the Government should mandate and back formal one-to-one mentorship programmes that provide support and aid in transition to independence for young people in care, and they should further support the extension of these programmes to be available to young care leavers up until the age of 26.
The special significance of SAYes alumni being part of changing the broken system that inspired Michelle and Gillian to start SAYes in the first place can’t be overstated.
SAYes is committed to bringing the best social change experience to business teams across the globe, and to helping corporate partners improve the impact of their social change investments, tractably, sustainably and at scale. Our Partner Programmes connect your business teams with young people through mentorship, and are built to deliver the skills, values and vision of purpose leadership, while also achieving powerful employee engagement with social and community impact benefits.
SAYes is committed to bringing the best mentorship support to under-served populations across the globe, and to helping our youth partners improve the impact of their services and support.
We are especially concerned to partner with organisations seeking to incorporate formal mentoring into their existing services and support, and committed to inclusive and evidence-based programming.
Through our core programme funding, we support care-experienced young people throughout the UK and SA. We also work with local authority and government agencies, non-profit and voluntary organisations, schools, universities and colleges to provide customised programmes.
SAYes offers a model of mentoring and transition planning known to improve the quality and consistency of relational support, and therefore the motivational context through which various change interventions are introduced and supported. We have applied this model in building organisational mentorships across various sectors.
Clients have engaged SAYes to enhance mentorship skills, knowledge and values within leadership and management teams, to produce structured mentorship offers relevant to their current and aspirational context, to support selected cohorts of mentor-mentee matches, to craft their identity and programmatic offering in the grassroots organisational mentorship space.
