Liberal Democrats in Bath have marked national Anti-Bullying Week by helping to fund a local project to tackle the problem, with a donation of £750 to a local charity.
National anti-bullying week ran from 16th to 20th November, and aimed to encourage young people to speak up about bullying, and parents, carers and schools to talk to children about the issue.
Bath-based charity Mentoring Plus has been working with children and young people nationwide for seventeen years.
With the help of community volunteers, they support children facing challenges to overcome them through the positive influence of mentoring and group activities.
Earlier this year Mentoring Plus were investigating the establishment of an anti-bullying project for children at Bath schools.
To help get the project off-the-ground, the local Liberal Democrats pledged to provide £750 in funding from one of their fundraising events.
As a result an anti-bullying project was devised by Luke Majithia, who as a teenager was mentored by Mentoring Plus before himself becoming a mentor and then a Group Leader with the charity.
Jamie Luck, Director of Mentoring Plus, commented: “The generous pledge from the Liberal Democrats enabled us to have Luke work one day a week for a period of 2 months to get this vital project off the ground.
“It also gave Luke and us the confidence to seek additional funds to deliver the workshops every week throughout the academic year, which we then secured from the Raby Family Trust.”
Project Manager of Mentoring Plus’s Anti-Bullying initiative, Luke Majithia, added: “Thanks to the funds that the Lib Dems and the Raby Family have provided, we can provide free interactive sessions in primary schools, educating pupils on bullying and equipping them to express, deal with and promote the issue in the aim of eradicating school bullying.”
Mentoring Plus are now piloting their anti-bullying project at St Andrew’s Primary School in Julian Road.
On Friday Lib Dem Bath candidate in this May’s parliamentary election, Steve Bradley, visited St Andrew’s to see one of the workshops in action and to hand over the cheque for £750.
Steve commented: “Mentoring Plus are an inspirational organisation who harness the compassion and experience that exists within our local community to provide positive mentoring and support to young people.
“As soon as the Liberal Democrats heard that they wanted to expand their work into anti-bullying, we decided it was the sort of project we wanted to help make happen.
“I’m delighted that our donation has helped get this initiative off the ground, and I would like to praise Luke, Jamie and the team at Mentoring Plus for helping Bath’s young people through this project.”
Any schools who would like to host an anti-bullying workshop should contact Luke Majithia on 01225 429694, or [email protected].
