Behind the Scenes of a Powerful Year: Launch of the Goal 17 2025 Impact Report for Care Leaver Mentoring

A National Volunteer Week Celebration of Stories, Data, and Lessons Learned

Launched: 3rd June 2025 | Read time: 3 mins

Last week, we were proud to launch our Care Leaver Mentoring & Befriending Impact Report 2025, marking the end of an 18-month journey supporting over 140 young people across six local authorities through Department for Education-funded projects.

The online event brought together more than 40 representatives from across the UK, including colleagues from the Department for Education, local authority leaving care teams, social workers, youth workers, and our inspiring community of volunteer mentors. It wasn’t just a celebration — it was a powerful moment of honest reflection on what it really takes to support care leavers through meaningful relationships.

🎯 What We Shared

The launch explored both the successes and the challenges — because real impact comes from being open, learning fast, and constantly improving. Some of the key takeaways included:

• 91% of young people said they felt more confident after having a mentor.

• 87% of mentors said the experience had changed how they viewed care-experienced young people.

• Powerful case studies showed how even a single trusted relationship can improve confidence, access to education, emotional wellbeing, and practical life skills.

• The importance of long-term mentoring, consistent contact, and face-to-face connection, especially during the early stages.

• The role of mentors in advocating for young people when systems failed them — from housing and mental health to essential services.

🎥 Missed the Launch?

If you weren’t able to join us live, you can still catch the full recording and download the report here:

👉 Watch the Recording + Get the Report

We hope these insights can support other organisations working with care leavers or designing one-to-one support programmes. From frontline volunteers to policy decision-makers, we believe everyone has a role to play in improving outcomes for care-experienced young people.

🙌 A Huge Thank You

This report wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible mentors, partner local authorities, and of course, the young people who allowed us to walk alongside them and share in their journeys.

Whether you’ve been part of our projects or are just exploring this space, we’d love for you to read the report, share it with your networks, and consider how we can work together to scale impact.

Let’s keep building something better — together.

💬 Got thoughts or ideas? We’d love to hear from you. Drop us a line via mentors@goal17.global or connect with us on LinkedIn.