A new mentoring programme is giving Whakatāne teenagers the chance to support younger children while helping meet a growing need for positive role models in the community.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Eastern Bay of Plenty has launched its School-Based Teen Mentoring programme, with Whakatāne High School students being matched one-on-one with children at Apanui School.

Programme manager Matt Turner said the initiative was being piloted between the two schools this year.

The Big Brothers Big Sisters movement began in New York in 1904, with the Eastern Bay branch established in 2021. The organisation celebrated five years in the Eastern Bay last month and has traditionally run school-based and community-based programmes using adult volunteer mentors.

Under its community-based programme, mentors spend one-on-one time with a young person after school or at weekends.

School-based mentors instead visit a young person at their primary school for an hour each week.

The organisation works with primary schools and teachers to identify children who could benefit from having a consistent, positive person in their lives.

The teen mentoring model has been successfully operating through Big Brothers Big Sisters branches in Nelson and on the Kāpiti Coast.

The Eastern Bay organisation saw an opportunity to both reach more children waiting for mentors and give teenagers a meaningful way to volunteer.

“It is a win-win for us. It is by youth, for youth, young people supporting other young people,” Turner said.

Interest from Whakatāne High School students exceeded expectations.

Organisers initially thought between five and 10 teenagers might sign up, but more than 30 put their names forward.

Twenty-five have since completed the training required, with the first matches recently made.

Each teenager is matched with one younger student and leaves the high school at lunchtime to walk to the primary school and spend an hour with them.

Matches are made based partly on shared interests, with pairs spending their time kicking a ball around, doing arts and crafts, visiting the library or simply talking.

Turner said the focus was on building a relationship.

“Just having someone that shows up every week that’s volunteered to be there, I think that’s important.

“They actually want to be there. They’re not paid to be there. And that’s someone that’s in their corner, someone that they can talk to.”

Teen mentors receive child protection training and ongoing supervision, with Big Brothers Big Sisters checking in monthly with each match.

The aim is to help younger children recognise their value, build confidence and remain engaged with school.

“We’re not clinical practitioners, but what we can do is just provide that real solid role model for them.”

There are benefits for the teenagers too, with Big Brothers Big Sisters providing them with a reference at the end of their involvement that can be used for university applications, scholarships or future employment.

Turner said the organisation had experienced a significant drop in adult volunteer intake during 2025, prompting it to look at other ways of providing mentors for children on its waiting list.

The teen programme has been in the works since last year, with the matching process taking longer than initially expected as every prospective mentor needed to be interviewed, trained and reference checked.

Turner said the organisation deliberately chose to begin with two schools rather than introduce the programme more widely from the outset. However, discussions had already taken place with other Whakatāne primary schools and Trident High School, and there had also been interest from Ōpōtiki.

“I think they’re waiting to see just how it works. And I think that’s good for us because we didn’t want to bite off more than we could chew,” he said.

“We’re getting the pilot up and running, and then we can roll it out from there.”

Turner hopes some of the teenagers taking part would enjoy mentoring enough to continue volunteering after leaving school.

The organisation continues to welcome adult volunteers, with Turner saying the main commitment required is an hour each week.

“We’ve got lots of flexibility within how that works and what that looks like,” he said.

“We will work with the volunteer to make sure that they can do it within their schedule.”

For more information about Big Brothers Big Sisters Eastern Bay of Plenty, visit bigbrothersbigsisters.org.nz/whakatane