MENFA was established by Madge Thomas in 1997. Her story makes interesting reading:

The 2nd of eleven children, I came to the United Kingdom in 1966 and studied both nursing and midwifery. In the mid 80s I expanded by studies to include a Diploma in Social Studies, teacher training and in 1994 the Assessors Award and an MA in Education. For the past 30 years I have worked for Cardiff Vale NHS Trust.

In 1991 I was in a situation where I was mentored by Senior Staff in my work place. This was a very negative experience which left me a very unhappy person, one who lacked confidence and felt at the time that there was no hope for me. It was at that point that I decided to 'pick myself up' and do some further studies. I went on to do teacher training and, on completion of that course, was encouraged by one of my lecturers to continue studying. By doing this I was able to forget the past and look ahead. It was during my final year at University that I decided to carry out some research into mentoring, exploring this area in great depth with the intention of setting up a scheme in Cardiff.

In setting up this scheme, I would very much like to reach out and help young people in education, especially those of ethnic origin. I believe there is a great need for a mentoring scheme as all students at some point of their academic life need encouragement and access to sound advice. Their needs can be as diverse as academic, financial, emotional and physical.

My interest in students of ethnic origin stems from my own experiences of going through the education system in that position. I believe that having a scheme that caters for the needs of these students will be a great asset to the community.