What We Offer

Game Changers provides 1:1 remote mentoring sessions focused on supporting young people through creativity, game-based learning, and positive mentee-mentor relationships. Sessions are delivered by trained mentors who use video games, digital media, and creative tools to build confidence, communication skills, and emotional wellbeing, as well as technical skills.

Please note, we are not teachers, we are not therapists, and we are not a total replacement for school. We often form part of a young person’s total provision. 

Responsible Adult 

There must always be a "responsible adult” with the young person when their sessions are taking place. This may be yourself, a partner, or a school staff member if sessions are taking place at school. 

You may be visible during the GoogleMeet or outside the room, but you must be in the same building. 

The responsible adult has responsibility for safety such as fire evacuation, first aid, and must be reachable as an immediate point of contact. 

The responsible adult also takes responsibility for the filtering and monitoring of any device or computer the young person is using and must ensure appropriate protections are in place. It is the responsibility of the responsible adult to manage internet safety and privacy settings. 

Should a mentor need to reach the responsible adult during a session, if they cannot directly speak to them on the GoogleMeet, they will call them. You must ensure we have access to any relevant contact details we may need for the adults responsible for the young person during sessions. 

Contacting Us

• As a completely remote company, we know how important it is for communication to be clear, timely, and efficient. Please don’t by shy to get in touch with us if you have questions, concerns or ideas! 

• You have 2 main points of contact: your mentor and the central team. You can reach us most quickly by whatsapp. You may also use email but please note mentors will check this less frequently than WhatsApp. 

• The central team contact is +44 7425 783102 and enrol@changers.org.uk

• Mentors typically have sessions back-to-back and may not be able to respond immediately. Please bear this in mind. If you need an immediate response, please message both your mentor and the central team. 

• We value flexible working at Game Changers, so some of our central team work part time or outside of a typical 9-5. Equally, please don’t hesitate to message us outside of typical working hours - it won’t bother us! We’ll always aim to respond as promptly as we can, and we appreciate your patience in return.
  

• For anything regarding payments or funding, please contact the central team.
  

• If you require a report of any kind, always contact the central team. We will liaise with the mentor to ensure we have all information and collate as appropriate. 

How We Contact You 

• We will typically contact you via email and WhatsApp 

• For updates that need to be sent to multiple families, we use WhatsApp Broadcast Lists. This enables us to contact everyone efficiently without sharing your details with anyone or adding you to a “group.” In order for Broadcast Lists to work, you must have our phone number saved in your phone. Please ensure you +44 7425 783102 have saved. 

• Mass updates are also sent via email. 

Weekly Sessions & Holidays 

• Once you have booked sessions, we will assume they will continue weekly unless:

• You tell us otherwise

• Your mentor is on annual leave or sick
  

• For the avoidance of doubt, unless you choose to pause them or we notify that the mentor will be away, sessions will continue:
  

• During school holidays

• During bank holidays

• Into the next term or academic year

School Holidays

We will confirm arrangements in the run-up to each holiday period. If you don’t notify us that you'll be away, we will assume sessions are going ahead. If you do not let us know that you plan to be away, you will be charged as normal. 

Missing or Skipping a Session

We appreciate that sometimes you will want to skip some weeks, such as for holiday, appointments, or important events. 

Letting us know in advance

We will need at least 24 hours notice ahead of any session you want to miss if you wish your payment to be paused. To be considerate of our mentors, we would appreciate much greater notice if you know you’re going to be away, as this enables the mentor to make alternative plans with their time. 

While they are not obliged to do this, your mentor may be able to offer an alternative time slot for a one-off week. Please contact us to see if this is possible. If the mentor cannot offer an alternative time slot, we can simply pause for that week. 

Last Minute Cancellations 

If a session is cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice, it will still be charged. We cannot rearrange without an additional payment as we need to pay for the mentor’s time for the original time slot plus any rearranged time. 

The mentor is not obliged to rearrange, but may be able to do so if they have availability and if you’re willing to pay for their time. 

Running Late

Your mentor will wait for a reasonable time if you are running late (usually 15 minutes). Please message or call them as soon as you can to let them know where you are. Once you join the session, the mentor will be available for the remainder of the original hour booked - as they have back-to-back sessions they will not be able to offer a full hour from the time it starts if the session started late. 

Tech Issues 

If you experience tech issues during a session, our mentors will be able to adapt the session to have some other fun! Mentors will not be expected to rearrange a session free of charge if the mentee experiences tech issues. Equally, our mentees are well placed to help you fix any tech issues, and this can still be a valuable use of time and a learning opportunity for the young person, too! 

We strongly advise that mentees have more than one preferred game or interest so that if a server is down for a particular game, the mentee has another option. 

Mentor Leave and Absence

Annual Leave

Annual leave is important for our mentors to recharge but you will always be notified well in advance when this is booked. If we need to pause a session while your mentor is away, your payments will be paused. Very occasionally a mentor may offer to rearrange a session, but this is at their discretion and is unlikely if they are taking a length of time, such as a week, off. 

Sickness & Emergencies 

In the rare event that a mentor is unwell or an unforeseen emergency occurs, we will contact you as soon as possible via (typically via WhatsApp) to let you know. We may be able to rearrange the session. If not, we will ensure your payments are paused. 

Notifying Schools/LAs

Your LA or School (if funding) may request notifications of attendance. Please request this via the central team who will organise this. 

Ending Sessions

Sometimes circumstances change, sometimes new school placements are secured, and sometimes young people’s interests move on to other things! If you'd like to end your regular sessions, please give us as much notice as possible. This allows us and our mentors to ensure final sessions are a celebration of everything the mentee has achieved, and for the mentor to offer as much support as possible for the new transition. 

Changing Your Regular Time Slot

If your child’s timetable changes and you need a different time slot, please reach out to the central team. If your mentor has availability we will be able to do a simple swap. Please note that our mentors are extremely popular and most are fully booked. Therefore, if your preferred time is not available, we will then consider switching to a new mentor. Any mentor switches are handled with the utmost care to ensure a smooth transition for the young person. 

Starting a New School

As above, if your child starts a new timetable, we will work with you to continue sessions at an appropriate time of day. For some mentees, it can be hugely beneficial for sessions to continue, at least for a few weeks, while they start their new placement. We are always happy to liaise with schools to make this possible, especially if the session would happen during the normal school day. 

Payments

There are 2 payment methods accepted for Game Changers sessions: 

1. If you are self-funding sessions, then we set up an automatic weekly payment subscription by card with our partner, Stripe, a secure online payment provider. This is an efficient system that allows you to receive receipts, update card details, and for us to pause payments if you are away. 

2. If your sessions will be funded by a School or LA, we will invoice them termly in advance. This may also be the most appropriate payment method if you are in receipt of any other type of funding where there is not a card associated with the account. 

Funding Changes

If your funding situation changes, it is your responsibility to notify us immediately. 

If you are self-funding sessions but then manage to secure funding from the LA or School, you must put us in touch with them immediately, as we do not want our payment terms to be assumed. We may also have different charges. 

If your sessions are funded by a School or LA but then funding is stopped - or you are told it may be stopped - you must inform us immediately. If sessions continue without funding in place, you would be responsible for covering the costs, so it’s important to avoid any unexpected surprises. 

Missed Payments

If you pay by weekly automatic payments and any payments fail this is usually because the card has expired. You will need to update your card details as soon as possible. We can manually settle any missed payments. 

If payments continue to be missed and we cannot make contact with you, sessions may need to be paused until we have sorted payments. 

Updating Card Details

You can easily update your card details by heading to https://www.changers.org.uk/myaccount 

Length of Sessions

When you book sessions you will choose an hour time slot. Sessions will take place within this hour slot for between 55-60 minutes. We appreciate your understanding that, as mentors have sessions back to back, it is unlikely sessions will start “on the dot” on the hour and finish “on the dot” the next hour. We allow our mentors those couple of minutes to thoughtfully bring sessions to a natural close, write up their notes and set up for their next session. 

Struggling to Engage

If your child is finding it difficult to engage in sessions, please contact the central team so we can offer support and adapt sessions accordingly. Simple approaches such as turning cameras off or using text to chat can be effective, as well as switching pace to gaming or chilled out activities. There are lots of things we can try, so please don’t be shy in coming forward. 

Trying Something New 

It is completely normal for young people’s interests to change, and our mentors are always happy to accommodate! However, our mentors are not mind readers and sometimes a young person won’t share their ideas or what they want with their mentor. Therefore, please let us know if your child wants to do something different - we won’t be offended! 

We need to have some notice if a mentee wants to explore a new skill, software or game, as the mentor won’t be expected to set this up within a session.  

Behaviour 

Everyone we work with is expected to treat Game Changers staff with respect. We understand that the young people we work with may have specific behavioural needs, and our Behaviour Policy clearly details our approach. This can be found on our website. 

For the avoidance of doubt, we don’t tolerate any language aimed at the mentor that is said with malicious or cruel intent. In these instances, our central team will be in touch to discuss and work out the best strategies to ensure sessions can continue successfully. 

The wellbeing of our mentors is extremely important to us and we will always work with them to ensure they feel comfortable and respected during their sessions. 

Changing Mentors

Sometimes you may want a change of mentor - please don’t ever worry about offending us if you do! It may be that your child will respond better to a fresh personality, has new interests, or wants to explore a skill area where a different mentor may have more specialised skills. 

Please contact the central team – we will handle the transition sensitively. 

Additional Sessions 

If you would like to add more weekly sessions for your child, please get in touch with the central team! Where possible, we will try and arrange this with their existing mentor. If not, we will find a suitable additional mentor. 

Multiple Mentors

It’s a common question - having multiple mentors is possible! This can be hugely beneficial for mentees who want to explore a variety of complementary skillsets. Our mentors are a close-knit team and regularly work together to share insights so that new sessions can get off to a great start. 

We intentionally hire a diverse team, so please bear in mind that approaches may be different in each session. 

Please note that if your child has multiple mentors, it’s almost always easier for you to communicate with the central team regarding any updates. 

Neurodivergent Mentors

Many of our mentors are neurodivergent and bring lived experience and empathy to their sessions. This is something we are extremely proud of, and many of our mentors are very open to sharing. 

As you would expect from a company like Game Changers, we want to avoid burnout, overwhelm, or misconstrued information. 

Please bear this in mind - it is often easier to ask for updates from the central team so that we can work as a team to help you efficiently. 

Reports

You will receive termly update reports detailing session highlights. Additional reports can be requested, such as those for annual reviews, and you must request these via the central team. Please allow 1-2 weeks for preparation. 

Annual Reviews

If you require us to attend your child’s annual review, please give us as much notice as possible, ideally at least a month. We will endeavour to attend when possible. These are usually attended by the Operations Manager, not the mentor (as they have back to back sessions). Please request this via the central team.

Safeguarding

We take safeguarding extremely seriously. Our full policy can be found on our website. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Russell Robinson - russ@changers.org.uk 

All staff are trained in safeguarding procedures and know how to report concerns.

We have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the young people we work with. This means we will share information with other agencies should we need to escalate or report a concern for a child’s welfare. 

Games

Age Restrictions & Inappropriate Content

Mentors will never agree to use an age-inappropriate game in a session. If a mentor deems a game to be inappropriate they will not use it in a session. It is the responsibility of the Responsible Adult with the child to ensure that all games they have access to are appropriate, and that their child cannot access inappropriate games during a session. 

Banned & Addictive Games

We will work with families should they be enforcing a ban on using a particular game. Please let us know well in advance. 

We are conscious of the addictive nature of certain games, and should the mentor have a concern for a child’s use of a game, the mentor will flag this to the central team and Responsible Adult as necessary. 

Paid-for Games & Consoles 

If your child wants to use a paid-for game, the mentor may be able to join if they happen to have it, but will not be expected to purchase it. It is best to use free games during sessions. 

In the same vein, if a child wants to play a game that is limited to a certain device (e.g. a Switch) a mentor will only be able to play this if they happen to also have that device, but they are not expected to do so. All mentors have access to a laptop/PC, so games that are playable on these (or have cross-play features if the child plays on a console) are the best choice. 

Please note that many games that your child may play on a console are often available to play on a PC. It may be that your child can play on their “normal” console device while a mentor joins on their PC. If you have questions, the best thing to do is to get in touch! 

Marketing Materials

From time to time we like to share anonymised case studies of what mentees have been doing in sessions on our website and social media. These often include screenshots or video screen capture of a project that has been worked on during sessions. We will never include any image or video of the child, any identifiers such as gaming names, and never use their real name.

By sharing what mentees can create during sessions, we are able to help more families who are curious about what benefit sessions could have for their child. We will assume deemed consent for the use of anonymised project work in this way.

Further FAQs

For more frequently asked questions, visit: https://www.changers.org.uk/faq