Stronger Youth is all about promoting mental health and wellbeing among adolescents by giving young people the opportunities and tools they need. This project is funded by the Erasmus+ programme with a duration of two years, from 1 December 2023 to 30 December 2025. It involves partners from six countries: the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain. Its main objective is to provide a methodology and a comprehensive toolkit to promote peer mentoring in order to prevent depression and social exclusion among young people.
Stronger Youth worked with schools, educators, and adolescents to provide them with the know-how to support teenagers at risk of depression or social exclusion through a peer mentoring programme.
Peer mentoring is a supportive approach to mental health that connects young people with peers who understand their struggles. Both mentors and mentees play crucial roles, each contributing to a supportive and enriching environment. and mutual support.
Peer Mentoring in action: Tools
Stronger Youth project has yielded several key outcomes, namely: a digital platform OSAT (Online Skills Assessment Tool) to young people evaluate their social competences and receive feedback for further development and to support mentors’ selection; a methodology for peer mentoring; a guide for educators, along with a set of tools for mentors and mentees.
On the website www.strongeryouth.eu, all created materials are available – from methodological tools and guides for educators to pilot activities and a promotional video.
Peer Mentoring in action: Piloting
Training sessions for educators and mentors were held to support the peer mentoring process. Six teams of mentors and mentees were formed in each country under the supervision of three educators for the piloting phase in order to see in practice how the mentoring process and the prepared tools work. Together they tested 30 activities selected to support the development of appropriate personal and social competences in order to raise mental health.
Peer Mentoring: Educators, Mentors and Mentees Feedback
To evaluate the practical application of the tools to peer mentoring, an assessment was conducted to gather feedback from educators, mentors and mentees.
The presentation of diverse activities in the Educator’s Guide were seen as useful in supporting teachers in their task of supervising peer mentoring during the pilot phase. Teachers in charge consider that the mentors were very committed, but that they needed some guidance in choosing the activities of the Set of Tools. Mentors considered that their work as mentors allowed them to acquire some important skills and learning. They also stated that they had enjoyed the experience and found it very useful. They said that they had mostly used the interactive activities in the Set of Tools and that their teacher/supervisor had been helpful. Mentees mentioned that during the sessions they developed self-confidence, learned how to hold a conversation, and deal better with stress. The mentoring relationship was considered valuable or special by the mentees allowing them to receive help and support.
Teachers, mentors and mentees considered the mentoring program valuable and useful and expressed the desire to continue.
Stronger Youth next steps
In October/ November 2025, Multiplier Events will take place in all partner countries, presenting the results to the wider public and local stakeholders. The final transnational partner meeting will be held in November in Łódź, Poland, concluding with an international online conference.
