We define hope as a way of thinking or a mindset that is focused on a goal that is personally meaningful. Hope is made up of self-agency (motivation and belief that one can work towards their goals) and pathways (specific routes and ways to work towards the goal).

A coach is a volunteer who has had some training to be able to support a young person to work through HOPEFUL. They support the young person using four structured sessions that focus on key parts of the workbook.

Meaningful activity means doing something that feels personally relevant that is linked to goals, character strengths and values. Increasing the time we spend in meaningful activity helps to boost joy, purpose, health and wellbeing.

Character strengths are qualities people can have that are seen as valuable, for example, things like kindness, bravery, fairness, gratitude, and creativity. These things do not need to achieve something positive to be considered good. Character strengths are an important part of feeling authentic and engaged in life. Everyone possesses all the known character strengths to some extent, but will have some particular key strengths, which are especially important in boosting health and fulfilment.

Values are guiding directions, they tell us what we want to be be in the future and what we want our lives to be about. We can’t ever complete or finish our values. Valued directions are when we identify what it would look like to live a life in line with particular values. Spending time thinking about our values helps us identify goals. Living more in line with our values helps us to experience purpose and fulfilment.

Goals are specific things we want to reach or obtain. Goals are closely linked to values, but they are a little bit different because we actually can reach them. Goals are easier to achieve if they are positively-framed, specific, and measurable.

A hope network is the relationships we have with groups and individuals and the extent to which these relationships help us to be more hopeful. Other people can help enhance our hope through supporting us in general, and by specific actions like encouraging us and believing in us.

A mentor (also known as a youth-initiated mentor or a trusted adult mentor) is someone that a young person selects from their own life, someone they already know and trust. Mentoring is about supporting the young person to keep building and maintaining their hope and working towards their goals over the longer-term.