Barney was referred to us by Young Carers in August 2014. Barney lives with his mum, dad and sisters and attends school in Gloucester. His parents are both unwell; Barney often has to help care for them and worries about them a lot. He was also very unhappy at school and was the victim of some bullying.

We met with Barney and his mum and matched him with a mentor in September 2014. In January Barney decided he did not want to continue with mentoring as he said things were now OK, but in reality they were not. We had close contact with mum through our parenting programme, and Barney’s sister was now also matched with a mentor.

Mum re-referred Barney in August 2015 saying he was very unhappy, the bullying had got worse, so much so that mum had now withdrawn Barney from school and was looking for a new one. We supported mum with this through the summer, and in September Barney started at a new school.

We matched Barney with a new mentor in August 2015 and they have been meeting most weeks since then. We see him regularly in our Drop In, and see the mentor when he comes to pick Barney up for their mentoring sessions once a week. Both Barney and the mentor report that they are getting along really well and the mentoring  is helping Barney settle.

Mum says she is delighted with the progress Barney is making (and is also delighted with the progress his sister is making with her mentor) and her home is a much better place!

The latest diary from the most recent mentoring session says Barney and his sister are spending some time together during the school holidays to have some fun – something that would previously not have happened.

Both Barney and his sister will remain with their mentors for some time yet, but  real progress can be seen with them both, as confirmed by their mum.