A MENTORING charity begins its mentoring programme this month in Calne, focusing on supporting young people through their transition of leaving full-time schooling.

Luckybreak Mentoring has collaborated with the John Bentley School to mentor pupils from year eight to year ten on the opportunities that are available to them outside of school. The programme is funded by the Careers and Enterprise company, a government funded organisation connecting young people to employability opportunities.

Careers and work-related learning coordinator at the John Bentley School, Dave Smith, said: “We chose to do this course as it is really important for the young people to have an awareness of what is out there. There have been a lot of changes over the last few years in educational training when they leave school.

“There are more apprenticeship routes into good careers than there used to be, but students find it difficult to access information about them so the school is playing a big part in putting them in the right direction.

“We are massively looking forward to it, it is a massive opportunity and we are only one of a few schools chosen to take part. The kids are really excited about it. It might help them make connections when they leave school or when they want work experience. We are trying to get as many local businesses as possible.”

The school and Luckybreak are still looking for local businesses to volunteer to hold one-on-one sessions with students once a week for a 15-week period.

If any local business would like to volunteer to take part in this mentoring scheme, please contact The John Bentley School on 01249 818100.