Children’s hospital mentoring programmes
A Champion in your Corner - supporting recovery
Working with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital, with plans to work with more hospitals in the future, our one-to-one mentoring programmes, support young people on their journey to recovery during or following their time spent in hospital for a range of conditions.
All Dame Kelly Holmes Trust programmes are designed to use personal, social and emotional development practices to increase the participants’ confidence, self-esteem and resilience. Athlete mentors, who are trained by the Trust to use their unique skills and experience form the world of elite sport to act as mentors and role models for young people, promote the intrinsic link between physical and mental wellbeing as a core element of these one-to-one sessions.
Delivered online to be accessible from hospital and during recovery, the sessions focus on encouraging and motivating young people to become more active during their hospital stay, and once they return home. Young people are encouraged to chose an athlete mentor they feel they best relate to and will take part in a minimum of three one-to-one mentoring sessions. Our athlete mentors offer encouragement, support and importantly, someone to talk to who is not part of their healthcare plan - considered extremely valuable by many of the young people.
Young people can also access a wide range of online tools and resources designed to support their wellbeing, including bespoke video fitness sessions aimed at the needs of young people recovering in hospital and available at different intensity levels.
Dame Kelly Holmes Trust is committed to being shaped by young people, providing them a voice and opportunity to influence our offer.
The programme has been designed with the input of the young people involved and is delivered one-to-one on their recommendation. Also included following young people’s feedback on what is most important to them:
Individual wellbeing advice based on personal situation
Advice on healthy eating and nutrition
Workout videos tailored to suit ability levels
This is supported by information shared by the hospitals offering the programme. According to Victoria Gray from the clinical psychology team at Alder Hey, 1500 referrals are received each year by the clinical health psychology team and patients at Alder Hey are 3 to 5 times more likely to experience mental health difficulties than their peers.
Research shows that 1 in 3 young people doesn’t feel confident about exercising when in hospital, we are also aware that a diagnosis of any kind has a negative impact on a young person’s confidence, and physical and mental wellbeing. We know that 80% of young people use apps regularly, and 100% would use an app to help them to be more active. Our programme, delivered by Trust athlete mentors, is designed to break down these barriers.
Harry, who took part in the programme following a hip injury shared:
“When I first started the meetings with Anna (Turney), I was pretty down because there were so many things I couldn’t do, I couldn’t even walk. By the end, we’d talked about so many things, and we’d talked about all the things that I ‘could do’ while on crutches, so it was good to focus on what I could do, like swimming or upper body work at the gym, rather than what I couldn’t.”
The young people find their athlete mentors incredibly inspiring and at the same time very relatable. Each one of them has faced challenges throughout their lives and sporting careers, and they love to encourage young people to talk about their fears and challenges so that they can share their own experiences to help them overcome them. Each young person is different, and this programme allows them to create a plan together with short- and long-term goals using the Five Ways to Wellbeing and individual dreams and needs.
Claire Hepworth, Clinical Specialist Respiratory Physiotherapist at Alder Hey said about the programme:
“We are receiving excellent feedback from young people who are engaging with the programme, reporting that the team and athlete mentors are really approachable, fun and have expressed that they feel more self-confident. They particularly like the support offered to help guide their self-development. We are very fortunate in Alder Hey to be able to offer this service to our young people. ”
Read more about the programme’s development here.
For more information on programmes in healthcare settings, contact us on contact@damekellyholmestrust.org