Befriending Volunteer
- Employer
- Together Co
- Location
- Brighton, East Sussex
- Salary
- Volunteer
- Closing date
- 4 Jul 2023
Job Details
Befriending Volunteer
We are looking for befrienders to support individuals who are at risk of social isolation as a result of their age, disability, or health condition.
We match people with people to create friendships that make life better and will carefully match you with an individual who we think would be a good fit.
We ask you to commit to an hour a week, or an hour a fortnight, for a minimum of 6 months.
Please note that due to the COVID-19 restrictions, volunteers may start befriending over the phone or through socially distanced meet ups outside until home visits are possible.
Time required
Flexible (average time is 1-2 hours a week or fortnight). We hope you would be able to commit for at least six months.
Benefits
- Connects you to others
- Fun and fulfilling Can advance your career, particularly good opportunity for people looking to gain experience for social care, health and charity sectors
Key skills required
-
- Strong listening skills
- Understanding of older people and/ or people with disabilities/long term health conditions
- Non judgemental attitude
- Honesty and trustworthy
- Commitment and reliability
- Respect for confidentiality
- Friendliness and warmth
- Empathy and resilience
As a befriender, you’ll be carefully matched with one individual who we think you’d be a good fit for. You’ll visit them at home for an hour or so each week or fortnight for a cup of tea and a chat. You might also accompany your person on walks to their local shops or cafe (including wheelchair escorting). Some befrienders also use their own car to take their person on outings.
Other activities might include help with form filling or making phone calls, reading aloud together, playing games, or meal sharing (Casserole Club). You might also carry out a few simple tasks, if you are happy and able to do so, like small repairs/minor DIY (excluding electrical or plumbing work), or a bit of gardening.
This is not a carer role, and you won’t be asked to carry out tasks that are essential to a person’s basic survival such as personal care, medical care, regular domestic work, and regular shopping.
Where and when you visit is largely down to you as a volunteer. A particular feature of Together Co Befriending is its neighbourhood focus, so we’ll try and match you with someone local to your home or work.
Company
We’re a people-powered charity that creates connections to change all our lives for the better.
You’ll find us working directly in Brighton and Hove, and our ideas and expertise helping shape practice nationally. We’ve been supporting people to make life-changing connections for more than twenty years. We’ll keep doing so until everyone has someone they can count on.
- Website
- https://togetherco.org.uk/
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