Shadow To Shine mentees are young people who participate in and graduate from our employability programmes. We run these in partnership with local youth charities around London. During COVID, we opened up the mentoring programme to young people who were seeking to progress and connect with industry professionals at a time when networking opportunities were limited. From Spring 2021, we will only be taking on new mentees via our employability programmes, however, if any additional opportunities to join our network arise, we will share this on our website and socials.

In some rare cases, we do accept self-referrals. You can complete this form to express your interest in joining and somebody will be in touch with you with an invite to sign up formally if you meet our criteria and we feel that we can support you.

In order to be a Shadow To Shine mentee you should be aged between 16-25, based in London and have completed one of our employability programmes or been directly referred to us from one of our partners. Shadow To Shine works with those who face barriers getting into employment. This may mean different things to different people, but some clear indicators can include:

• You are currently NEET

• You are from a lower socio-economic background

• You have been classed a ‘vulnerable’ or ‘high risk’ by your school, local authorities or a community organisation

• You are a young carer or a care leaver

• You have been involved with criminal or gang activity

• You attend or have attended a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)

• You do not have any access to professional role models

Shadow To Shine is currently not taking on any more mentees except those who complete our employability programmes. We are aiming to deliver one programme per quarter for 2021 and will take on a new cohort (between 7-15 young people) each time. If you are a member of a local youth organisation and think Shadow To Shine’s services would be beneficial, you can share our contact details with organisers.

Shadow To Shine is really proud of its professional network which includes some incredible names from industries such as music, entertainment, fashion and property. Our patrons are however all assigned a young person (or matching process for finding one) and therefore not available as mentors on an application basis. Any opportunities to hear from our patrons via events, talks or webinars will be shared on Shadow To Shine’s social channels and in our marketing materials.

You can find out about Shadow To Shine’s activities with for young people by signing up to our newsletter, following us on Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.