The Mainstream Programme conducted Disability Mentoring Week on 7-11 April 2008. The objective of this project was to initiate a one-on-one mentoring relationship between a State sector employee with a disability and a final year student from a secondary or tertiary institution who also had a disability of some kind.

During Disability Mentoring Week, volunteer mentors from State sector organisations around the country chose one day of that week to invite a pre-assigned student to accompany them in their day-to day duties within their workplace. The day was intended to enable both the voluntary mentor and the student to become fully acquainted and to provide the student with an appreciation and an insight into how an employee with a disability can adequately function within a State sector workplace. It was hoped that from this encounter an on-going mentoring relationship could be fostered and developed.

The feedback received from this project was overwhelmingly positive with both students and mentors reporting significant benefits having been accrued from their encounters. Perhaps the most successful aspect from this year's project was the amount of favourable feedback received from the arranged encounters within the smaller towns and cities in the regions. This vindicated the decision to expand the project's geographic scope to include students and mentors from wherever they may be within New Zealand.

Another pleasing aspect of this year's project was the positive involvement and supportive participation from local supported employment consultants in each locality acting as facilitators introducing each mentor and student interaction. Additionally, there were encouraging signs that a number of mentors and their assigned students were keen on remaining in touch and developing a mentoring relationship with a view to encouraging the student with their future career plans.

Despite some difficulties experienced in satisfactorily matching available students with a suitable volunteer mentor in each locality, the project achieved its aims and fulfilled most of its objectives. The Mainstream team would like to acknowledge and thank all those people who kindly gave up their time in committing to the success of this year's project, particularly the volunteer mentors and facilitators from around the country and all those in the schools and tertiary institutions who assisted us with the recruitment of interested students.