Volunteer Befrienders provide telephone or face to face support for lonely/isolated residents of Hartlepool who live alone, building their confidence to access social groups and get out and about in the community.
Loneliness and isolation can result in a decline in an individual’s physical and mental health, which can result in risks to the individual’s safety such as the inability to self-rescue in the case of a fire. If we can reduce loneliness and isolation, we can increase safety and reduce risk.
Volunteer Befrienders telephone or meet with their matched person, typically on a weekly basis, with the aim of reducing loneliness and isolation and to improve their well-being.
Initially, volunteers may be visiting clients in their home for a friendly chat over a cup of tea and will hopefully build to accompanying clients on short walks, outings or to attend local social groups. With the intention of building the client’s confidence to participate in these activities unaccompanied and perhaps eventually become volunteers themselves.
There is also opportunity for volunteers to support the Befriending Service in delivering activities for our clients to attend in the community.
Similar Opportunities
As an Online Feedback Collector, your role will be to collect feedback about people’s experiences of health and social care services that have been posted online and log this information anonymously.
As a Community Engagement and Outreach volunteer, you will play an important role in speaking to people in the community about their views on local health and care services.
As a Digital communications volunteer/social media volunteer you will be supporting Healthwatch Darlington to manage our social media and website by creating and/ or reviewing content and responding to people’s comments or queries.
