New Explorations Mentoring Service

That the Parliament congratulates all of the staff and volunteers at Grampian Opportunities in Inverurie on their work to support disabled people and people with mental health issues; understands that this allows customers to access the information and support that they need to take up and progress in further education, volunteering opportunities and employment; recognises what it believes to have been the success of the New Explorations Mentoring Service at Grampian Opportunities, which has been developed and is delivered by people with disabilities throughout the Grampian area and offers one-to-one mentoring sessions that aim to improve self-confidence and independence and help move adults towards regular employment; understands that the success of the service was recognised when it was awarded the Health and Disability Recognition Award for 2011 by the Scottish Mentoring Network; considers that New Explorations has been successful in enabling a significant number of those who have been mentored to move into employment and others to take up volunteering; wishes Grampian Opportunities and New Explorations continued success in the future, and believes that such work shows the positive benefits to people’s lives that can be achieved as a result of mentoring and the importance of continued support for such services from local and national government in the future.