Today Mosaic, HRH The Prince of Wales’s mentoring initiative, was launched in Scotland with a high-profile reception hosted at The Prince’s Trust Wolfson Centre in Glasgow, Scotland.

Led by Mosaic’s National Chairman, Shabir Randeree CBE, and joined by senior members of Glasgow’s business and civil society communities, it was announced that Mosaic would be adding Scotland as its sixth region with the delivery of its four mentoring programmes. This would be done in conjunction with Prince’s Trust Scotland, following the announcement of Mosaic joining The Prince’s Trust from 1^st July 2016.

Speakers on the night included Allan Watt, Director of Prince’s Trust Scotland; Usman Tariq, one of the youngest BME advocates with the Scottish Bar; and Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador Faisal Ahmed. Speaking about the night, speaker and Mosaic Scotland Co-Chairman Dr Atif Bashir added: “We had fantastic launch today, and we look forward as a region to build on the great work Mosaic has done in England. I am confident we will win and change the lives of young people here in Scotland because of our faith, courage and enthusiasm.”

Mosaic’s National Chairman, Shabir Randeree CBE added: “It was an absolute pleasure to speak today in Glasgow, and to such a packed audience of senior guests from the Glasgow community who I hope will help make Mosaic’s programmes a success in the region. Over the past five years, we have been delighted to reach over 30,000 young people in England, and I am glad we are able to finally make that impact here in Scotland”.

Mosaic’s mentoring programmes create opportunities for young people growing up in our most deprived communities. Mosaic’s vision is for all young people to be supported to realise their potential. With the help of volunteer mentors acting as role models through our structured programmes, we aim to bridge the aspirations-attainment gap. By linking young people with inspirational role models in this way, we boost their confidence, self-efficacy and long-term employability.

Mosaic’s programmes have received independent accreditation through the Approved Provider Standard of the Mentoring & Befriending Foundation, the national quality standard designed for all mentoring projects, providing us with very important external recognition of the quality of our programmes. In addition, Mosaic has for two consecutive years been included in the Department of Education’s statutory guidance on careers advice as an exemplar for building strong connections with employers. Mosaic’s programmes have also been independently evaluated by Demos, the leading research organisation, which described its programmes as “very well run and both the mentors and mentees reported significant benefits in taking part”. Mosaic has also previously received the Prime Minister’s Big Society Award, which was in recognition of Mosaic’s achievements in bridging the gap between aspirations and achievements of young people.