This page is aimed at young people. For information about Cleft++ aimed at parents, carers and family members of young people born with a cleft see this page.
Cleft++ connects 10-17-year-olds born with a cleft to a trained mentor.
Your mentor will be aged between 18 and 25 and also born with a cleft, they will be able to relate to what you’re going through.
They’ll listen, share their own experiences, and support you in a way that’s right for you.
We know it might not always be easy to share how you are feeling about your cleft. Cleft++ aims to give you space and time to talk and, at the end of mentoring, we hope you will feel more confident and more positive.
How can Cleft++ support you?
A mentor can support you in lots of different ways, including:
- helping you find ways to deal with setbacks and difficult times
- giving you a safe space to talk about your cleft and anything that’s worrying you
- reminding you that you’re not alone and helping you to feel understood
- building your confidence when talking about your cleft to other people
- suggesting other places or people who could help if you need extra support
The support I received in mentoring was incredible! I really appreciated being able to talk to someone who understood what I was going through as I haven’t always had that opportunity. In the past few months, I have become much more confident when it comes to my cleft.Young person who received mentoring through Cleft++
How Cleft++ Mentoring works
Fill in the signup form to register for Cleft++.
- If you’re younger than 13, you’ll need permission from a parent or guardian. If you’re between 13 and 17, we would like your parent or guardian to be aware and to be involved.
- We ask quite a lot of questions on this form. Please answer them with as much information as you can so we can make sure mentoring is right for you.
You’ll be invited to a short video call with someone from our mentoring team, usually using Zoom.
Here, we will:
- Explain how mentoring works
- Find out a bit more about the things you would like help with
- Talk about whether you would like to meet your mentor before mentoring starts
- Talk about how CLAPA keeps you safe throughout mentoring
- Look at Brightside, the online platform we use for messages and video calls in mentoring
- Go through any questions you have and anything you feel unsure about
We’ll send:
- a welcome survey
- a mentoring agreement
- a picture to help you set goals
- some information about your mentor, things like their hobbies and interests and what kind of cleft they have
You’ll be invited to join an online mentoring platform called Brightside.
- This is where we safely match you with your mentor
- Brightside helps keep all mentoring chats secure and private
You can learn more about Brightside below.
Once you’re matched, you can start messaging or video calling with your mentor on Brightside.
- You can message at times that work for you
- Your mentor will reply within three days
- You will need to set aside about an hour a week
You can choose how long mentoring lasts. We suggest four months, but it can be shorter or longer — it’s up to you.
You might talk about things like:
- operations or hospital appointments
- how to respond to comments or questions about your cleft
- confidence and friendships
- missing school for appointments
- moving from children’s to adult’s services
When mentoring is coming to an end, your mentor will talk this through with you first.
- They’ll tell you about other CLAPA services you might like to join
- We’ll ask you to fill in a short survey — your feedback really helps
- You can choose to have a final video call with your mentor and out mentoring team to say goodbye
And remember you can always come back to mentoring in the future
About Cleft++ Mentors
Cleft++ mentors are friendly volunteers aged 18–25 who were born with a cleft. They’re trained to be mentors and to help keep you safe.
Each mentor has their own cleft story. They’ll share some of their experiences when it’s helpful, and you’ll be matched with a mentor based on what you said you’d like to talk about when you signed up.
Your mentor’s role is to:
- help you feel comfortable and listened to
- give you space to share how you’re feeling
- support you to set small actions to help you reach your goals
Mentors aren’t doctors or counsellors. They won’t give you medical advice or mental health treatment. If you need that kind of support, we can help you get in touch with your Cleft Team, GP, or other services who are there to help.
My Cleft++ mentor helped me feel so much less isolated than before and it was a great comfort knowing that I could receive the advice I needed at any time!Young person who received mentoring through Cleft++
About the Brightside platform
All mentoring chats happen on a safe online platform called Brightside.
You’ll talk with your mentor using one-to-one messages or video calls or a mixture of both.
Brightside is designed to help keep you safe, which is why the CLAPA team and Brightside can see messages you send.
There are safety checks in place too. Some words or information (like surnames, addresses, social media details, file attachments, or messages that suggest someone is not safe) are flagged to the team so they can check everyone is safe.
This helps make Brightside a secure, supportive place for you to feel comfortable to talk openly and honestly with your mentor.
Common questions about Cleft++
We’ll match you with a mentor using the answers you give in the signup form. This is why it’s important that you answer all the questions.
This helps us find someone who understands the things you’d like to talk about and support you with and who might also share some of your hobbies and interests.
That’s absolutely fine!
We suggest about four months because it gives you time to get to know your mentor, but you’re not locked in.
If you feel mentoring has helped and you’re ready to finish earlier, we’ll just ask you to fill in a short feedback form.
Yes. Mentoring can happen alongside other support you might already have.
It’s important to know that mentoring isn’t the same as counselling or therapy, and it can’t replace mental health treatment.
Sometimes it might be better to focus on your mental health first and come back to mentoring later — we’ll always talk this through with you. Please let us know how things are affecting you and what support you already have.
Only trained CLAPA and Brightside staff can see the messages between you and your mentor.
Your chats are private between you, your mentor and CLAPA. The only time we would need to share information is if we’re worried about serious harm to you or someone else. If that happens, we may need to involve someone like your parent/guardian, GP or social care to keep everyone safe.
It’s normal to have mixed feelings. You and your mentor might feel sad when mentoring comes to an end, especially if you’ve built a good connection.
We hope mentoring helps you feel more confident to handle things on your own. Ending mentoring doesn’t mean losing support from CLAPA — there are other ways to stay involved and get help in the future.
Yes, you can come back to mentoring any time, until you reach the age of 18, when we would need to give you details for our adult support services.