Why One-to-One Mentoring Could Change the Future for Children in Care — And Why This Petition Matters

There are some causes that deserve more than a passing glance. This is one of them…

Gemma from Inspired Mental Health has launched a petition calling for trauma-informed one-to-one mentoring and guaranteed mental health support to become a statutory right for every child in care and every care leaver up to the age of 25.

This is not about adding another layer of bureaucracy. It is about recognising a very real gap in the system and doing something meaningful to close it.

For too many children, entering care comes after trauma, abuse, neglect, loss, or instability. Yet even after entering the system, many still do not get the consistent emotional support they need. Services can change. Placements can change. Professionals can change. What is often missing is one trusted person who stays present, builds a relationship, and helps that young person feel seen, heard, and supported.

The reality for children in care

The need for this kind of support is not small.

In England, 45% of children and young people who were looked after were found to have emotional and mental health problems, compared with 10% of children aged 5 to 15 in the general population. That figure alone should stop people in their tracks.

These are not children who need occasional check-ins or reactive support only when things reach crisis point. They need early, consistent, trauma-informed help from people who understand what they have been through and how those experiences shape behaviour, trust, relationships, and emotional wellbeing.

Why mentoring matters

One-to-one mentoring can be life-changing because it offers something many young people in care have never had consistently: a safe, reliable adult relationship.

A trauma-informed mentor can help a child or young person to:

• build trust and feel emotionally safe
• develop resilience and confidence
• process difficult experiences in a healthier way
• reduce feelings of isolation and rejection
• access support earlier, before problems become crises

For care leavers, that support can be just as important. Turning 18 does not suddenly remove trauma. It does not make life easier. In many cases, it brings even more pressure, more uncertainty, and more responsibility at a point when support is still desperately needed.

This is about prevention, not reaction

Too often, support only arrives when things have already reached breaking point.

Gemma’s petition is calling for a different approach. One that is preventative rather than reactive. One that recognises that early intervention can save lives, reduce long-term pressure on services, and create better outcomes for young people who have already faced more than most.

When a young person has somebody in their corner consistently, the impact can reach far beyond mental health. It can affect school attendance, confidence, relationships, housing stability, decision-making, and future opportunities.

This is not just good practice. It is common sense.

Why this campaign matters so much

This cause is deeply personal to Gemma because she has her own lived experience of the care system. She understands first-hand the emotional cost of instability and the difference the right support can make.

That personal experience sits alongside years of practical work supporting children, young people, and families.

Through Mental Health Empowerment CIC and Next Gen MEMs Ltd, Gemma and her team provide trusted support rooted in care, compassion, and expertise. Inspired Empowerment CIC works with children, young people, and families facing a wide range of challenges, including trauma, grief, family breakdown, and poor emotional wellbeing.

The organisation’s fully trained, enhanced-DBS-checked Mental Health Empowerment Mentors deliver free and affordable services in schools, community settings, and through one-to-one and group support. Their work is grounded in real relationships and real outcomes.

They are already doing the work that proves this model matters. This petition is about making sure that support is not left to chance, funding rounds, or postcode differences. It should be something children in care can rely on as a right.

Why signatures matter

The petition needs to reach 10,000 signatures for the Government to issue a response. At 100,000 signatures, it can be considered for debate in Parliament.

At the time of writing, the petition is live and gathering support. Every signature helps move it closer to being taken seriously at national level.

For many people, signing a petition takes less than a minute. For a child in care or a care leaver who is struggling without consistent support, the change being asked for could last a lifetime.

Please sign and share

If you believe children in care deserve more than crisis management, please sign the petition.

If you believe care leavers should not be expected to navigate adulthood without stable emotional support, please sign the petition.

If you believe early intervention, trauma-informed care, and trusted relationships should be part of the system rather than left to luck, please sign the petition.

And once you have signed it, share it.

Because this is not about politics for the sake of politics. It is about giving some of the most vulnerable young people in our society a better chance of stability, healing, and hope.

Sign the petition here: Make one-to-one mentoring a statutory right for children in care and care leavers