Befriending by Skills & Volunteering Cymru
In-person and/or digital opportunities!
In-person Befriending
About the In-person Befriending project
- This project is an invaluable opportunity for to befriend an adult with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and/or mental health conditions in a community setting or at their home.
Role of an In-person Befriending volunteer
- The role of the volunteer is to befriend a beneficiary by doing a range of weekly activities.
- These can include anything from going to the cinema, day trips, arts and crafts, going for a meal, you name it!
Digital Befriending
About the Digital Befriending project
- This project is an invaluable opportunity for volunteers to befriend an adult with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and/or mental health conditions in a digital setting;
Role of Digital Befriending volunteer
- The role of the volunteer is to befriend and facilitate digital activities for an adult with disabilities and/or mental health conditions;
- SVC will pair a volunteer with a beneficiary based on shared interests. Each volunteer will support a beneficiary by getting in contact for a weekly catch up via phone call, video call, letter or a gaming website;
- We encourage volunteers and beneficiaries to be creative with their digital activities. Our amazing team of volunteers have done a variety of digital activities over video call such as karaoke, charades, bingo, cooking and quizzes;
- Please note: volunteers are required to have a DBS certificate in order to befriend beneficiaries over video call.
Befriending (additional information)
Aims
- The aim of this project is to offer social and emotional enrichment to beneficiaries through befriending and facilitating a range of activities;
- In addition, volunteers will provide compassionate support and amity, and help relieve feelings of boredom, loneliness and isolation;
- Through engagement, the beneficiaries will develop their social skills, gain confidence and achieve personal goals;
- This project is invaluable to beneficiaries as befriending improves perceptions of well-being, reduces stress and increases self-esteem and empowerment. Seeing the progress beneficiaries make is always a very rewarding experience for volunteers!
Supported living
- The individual volunteers will be befriending might be residing in supported living accommodation;
- Supported living is a concept that was developed to ensure that people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and/or mental health conditions own or rent their home and have control over the support they get, who they live with and how they live their lives;
Application process
- Complete SVC's volunteer application form;
- Complete a short matching form;
- DBS check;
- Informal interview (short listed applicants).