Become Part of the Team as a Friendship Volunteer

If you like having a chat and finding out about people, then becoming one of our Friendship Volunteers would suit you down to the ground.

Loneliness is a big problem in our country at the moment and is actually as big a killer as cancer.  Solving this particular problem isn't rocket science, however - all that is needed is one person to start talking to another.  

That is where our Friendship Volunteer Service comes in to play.  Our Friends are not the cast of a 90s sitcom but local people who are willing to give up a bit of time each week to help isolated people.  Most of the recipients of the service are older people but not all - loneliness can strike at any age and for a range of reasons.

At the moment we have two services running under this umbrella.

Telephone Friends who undertake to phone one or more people in need of a chat every week or fortnight.  This can be very flexible and from your home but we do ask for consistency for the sake of the person you are phoning.

Friendship Bubbles which is a new idea to help people safely leave their homes in small groups.  Your role will be to pick up a couple of isolated people and take them out together for an hour or so, usually for a cup of tea or coffee.  The idea is to create safe "friendship bubbles" to encourage isolated people to mix a bit more.

We do normally run a traditional one-to-one befriending service, where volunteers visit isolated people in their own homes, but this service is suspended at the moment because of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

If you do want to be a Volunteer Friend we will provide you with any training you need and support you throughout.  You will need to have an Enhanced DBS check.emic.

To find out more, have a look at the role descriptions and ring Clare or Sandra on 291 8010 for more information.

If you are interested in this role then the simplest thing is to fill in the registration form below and someone will contact you. 

https://form.jotform.com/NethertonFeelgood/volunteer-registration-form