Empowering young minds, igniting futures

Ignite Life is a youth charity that has been in operation since 2019. We provide frontline, tailored services to disadvantaged young people and families impacted by poverty, adversity, mental health challenges, food poverty, and more. We strive to deliver lasting impact and build resilience among young people through our three core services: youth 1:1 mentoring, mental health services (1:1 counselling, family counselling, talking therapy and trauma-informed parenting workshops) and food provision. We are dedicated to tackling inequality and ensuring that no disadvantaged young person slips through the net.

We are raising money for our food bank and our youth 1:1 mentoring service. Both of these services work to collectively empower vulnerable young people and families to overcome adversity, take steps out of food poverty and become more financially independent. 

Our food bank:

operates on a no-referral-needed basis to ensure that we are accessible to everyone. We support approximately 257 people a week with food, and provide signposting to other services such as water and energy bill support and debt advice. We also provide cooking workshops each year to teach families how to cook low-budget, healthy meals. 

In Bristol alone, according to the 2022/2023 Bristol QoL Survey, an estimated 8.1% of households in Bristol have experienced moderate to severe food insecurity in the past 12 months, higher than the previous year (4.6%). There is an urgent, regional demand for our service.

Our 1:1 mentoring service:

 revolves around building trusting relationships with isolated young people aged 5-25 who are currently not engaging in education, employment or training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET. Currently, according to the Bristol City Council, 6.6% of 16-17 year olds in Bristol are NEET, which is higher than the national average of 5.4%. When a young person is NEET, there is an increased risk of poor mental health, as well as long term unemployment. Our mentoring service is dedicated to reaching these young people and providing them with lifechanging opportunities. Each session is dedicated to assisting the young person in reaching their unique goals, whether this involves becoming financially independent, developing employability skills such as resilience and teamwork or gaining a vocational qualification that will enable them to enter the job market.  During sessions, young people can work towards ASDAN’s and NCFE’s; these are qualifications in areas such as food and hygiene, construction, sport and fitness. Our mentoring prepares young people with a toolkit that will allow them to navigate life with resilience and be ready for anything.

We envisage a world where all vulnerable young people and families have equal access to the support and opportunities that they need in order to thrive and become financially independent. 

Mentoring: Case study #1 (A, named 15) 

A was referred to Ignite Life to receive critical support mentoring during school holidays. A hadn’t attended school for around 3 years and as a result was quiet, sullen and lacked any engagement. 

A’s main aims were to build self-esteem, build some life skills and become more engaged in learning. A has ambitions of joining the army and it was felt that having the positive role model of a mentor would help A progress towards this goal.

Through mentoring, A was provided with critical 1:1 support, received 1:1 training and was able to attend the gym and build on physical fitness, which would all help towards the goal of joining the army.

In particular, A’s mentor was able to engage A attending the gym, working specifically on physical fitness and running 5km as part of the physical requirements for the army selection. They also learnt about a healthy lifestyle, a good diet and the benefits of exercise on overall mental and physical health. These are all life experiences A would not have received were it not for the mentoring opportunity. 

With the support of a mentor, A applied for army selection and, although being rejected initially, showed resilience to persevere, work on fitness levels and apply again, successfully passing a selection interview in June 2022.