Befriender: Telephone or Home-Visiting
What You'll Do:
- As we get older, it’s easy to become isolated and lonely as our opportunities for social activities reduce. Some older people see no-one for days at a time. A regular weekly visit or phone call from a local volunteer befriender can brighten someone's day, help improve their mental health and often results in friendship.
- We carefully match befrienders with an older person who we think you’ll get on with – someone who may have a shared interest or something else in common with you.
- You then arrange to meet or speak at a time that works for you both, and we keep in touch to make sure things are going well. We offer in-person befriending with home visits (when we are able to), as well as telephone befriending.
Why You'll Love It:
- Would you like to spend an hour or two each week taking someone out for a while, watching a film, playing Scrabble – or simply having a chat over a cup of tea?.
- As a Volunteer Befriender, you'll be helping to reduce someone's feelings of loneliness and isolation, which can bring about a big increase in their mental and physical health, and overall quality of life.
- You will get a lot in return: a feeling of being connected to your community, the fun of getting to know someone you might not otherwise meet, and even a new friendship.
- Some of our befriendees may have some degree of dementia, so we will train you to feel confident in providing support to someone with needs of this kind.
