The BREAKTHROUGH Dundee mentoring project is an incredible way of putting a “human face to tackling a social problem” that blights the city.
That’s the view of Michael Marra, the Labour councillor for the Lochee ward on Dundee City Council, who has encouraged as many people as possible to think about applying for the BREAKTHROUGH Dundee mentoring scheme which he says can have a “big impact” helping some of the city’s most vulnerable children.
Mr Marra was amongst the 160 people who attended the project’s launch at the headquarters of DC Thomson & Co Ltd in Dundee, and he is excited by what it aims to achieve.
He said: “I knew a little bit about the project already. I knew it was centred on mentoring and kids going through care.
“I think it’s a lot more than that now. I think there’s a real depth to the project in the way that it’s being worked out, working really closely with the education department, and recruiting a big group of volunteers.
“I think we all probably know the scope of the social problem that informs part of this but some of the statistics – 80% of young men in Scotland who have been involved in violent crime have come through the care system – there are these numbers that kind of jump out at you and tell you if there’s something you can do about helping kids that are going through the care system, then we can change the outcomes not just for them but for the people around them and society at large.”
Mr Marra said he’d already texted a couple of people about the project before he even left the launch night.
He was also going to try and “strong arm” his wife into applying and would be speaking to more people at his work.
He added: “It will be of interest to people who have just got something to offer that could make a huge commitment – a small time commitment but a huge emotional commitment that I feel you’d get back in spades. So if people want to make a difference for the city then this is an incredible way of doing it because you put a human face to tackling a social problem.”
*For more information go to www.breakthroughdundee.co.uk
