The Mentoring Lab

We are a not-for-profit youth organisation that was established in 2017 by youth worker and project manager Elaine Isadora Thomas with the goal of offering long-term mentorship and youth engagement solutions to young people from black and marginalised communities.
We provide help to kids from Hackney and the nearby boroughs who are between the ages of 10 and 25.
Where parents are working* they may be working extremely hard to make ends meet and therefore not able to provide the structures and opportunities needed for their children to be safe in the neighbourhood, achieve and thrive.*more commonly working in the City as cleaners, kitchen staff or security guards,.
We believe that the young people we serve are 'diamonds in the rough', with draw-dropping creative thinking, inspiring values and unsurpassable grit that is desperately needed in the British workforce.
Yet young people from black and marginalised communities do not have access to solid, reliable guidance in how to focus their skills and talents, to help improve British industries most pressing issues, and improve all of our futures.
With over 15 years experience in the youth sector Elaine, our Founder set out to demonstrate that black led community organisations can and should play a major role in supporting local young people and families.
The Mentoring Lab wants to boost young people's social mobility and break the cycle of poverty by collaborating with local governments and communities.
We do this through the delivery of programmes that allow us to identify the most at risk vulnerable young people, who go on to benefit from our following services;.*By utilising GAME TIME as a gateway to engaging young people that have fallen through the gaps; we support young people in overcoming barriers to their progression and enable them to access wider opportunities, that would not otherwise be available to them.
We receive participant feedback at the conclusion of each term and of the programme.
We give young people a safe space to reflect on their skills and values, and the workplace attitudes they will need to develop to be successful.
With the support of our professional volunteers, participants have the opportunity to increase their understanding of how to operate in a workplace, thus developing more confidence and less fear about the world of work.