Why Befriending Matters
For many caregivers and the person they looked after loneliness and being tied to home by their caring responsibilities are real struggles. Missing out on social activities can lead to feeling lonely and have a real negative impact on their wellbeing. Even opportunities that most of us take for granted, like popping to the shops or attending an appointment can be almost impossible if you have caring responsibilities. Caregivers Connected Gateshead’s Befriending program is here to help by matching volunteers with caregivers and the people they care for.
Outline of duties:
- To support our service users and the people they care for to help alleviate isolation and loneliness by visiting them regularly at mutually agreed times. This will build and maintain a trusting, close relationship over time.
- To physically be with and interact with the cared for people of our service users.
- To empower our service users and the person they care for to rediscover social skills and build confidence by encouraging them to go out to local community venues.
- To support our service users and the person they care for to make choices about how they connect to our wider community.
- To have fun. It can be easy to underestimate the importance of just having a laugh and a good time.
What sort of person are we looking for?
We really hope our volunteers have the following qualities:
- A non-judgemental approach.
- Good listener.
- Good sense of humour.
- Flexible, able to deal with changes in schedule and changes in the relationship with the person you will be talking to.
- Reliable, trustworthy and respectful of confidentiality.
- Ability to build effective relationships with service users and to interact with service users in a non-patronising and respectful way.
- Ability to build an open and honest relationship with our Volunteer Coordinator and ask for help or advice in the case of issues or safeguarding incidents.
- Ability to operate within the remit of Caregivers Connected Gateshead Policies and Procedures.
- Ability to stick to guidelines and participate in ongoing one to ones and training sessions with our Volunteer Coordinator.
- Enthusiasm and commitment to Caregivers Connected Gateshead’s values and objectives.
Time Commitment
This will vary based on each befriending session. You can expect a session to last between 2 and 4 hours, once per week. We will match you with someone who matches your availability – so if you are available for 2 hours hours, that is fine! We will ask you to commit to an initial 6 months then it is up to you if you would like to continue your befriending role with the same person, swap to someone new or stop volunteering as a Befriender.
Location
Across the Borough of Gateshead, at the caregiver’s home.
Probation Period
Building a new relationship can be tricky. This means that we will start you off with a 6 week probationary period. This give both you and our service user a chance to work out if the pairing is a good match. If you or our service users don’t think it’s a good fit we’ll support you with a different opportunity.
Caregivers Connected Gateshead will provide you with
- A full training and induction programme.
- A DBS check to enable you to interact 1:1 with our service users.
- On-going support from the Volunteer Co-ordinator, including regular check-ins.
- Access to a network of other volunteers for advice and guidance.
- A volunteer reward and recognition program, to celebrate your achievements!
- We will cover the cost of your travel to support you to volunteer.