Befriending & Community Choices
A workshop with the superb befriending volunteers who are helping us with our research project
Everybody needs people, but not everyone has someone.
People can be isolated or feel alone for all sorts of reasons – health problems, people living alone having lost loved ones and with families living some distance away, be housebound or have other circumstances which make opportunities for developing friendship difficult. Sometimes people feel alone even when they are in regular contact with others.
Through our Befriending and Community Choices research project, funded by Bracknell Forest Council, we are working with elderly and vulnerable residents to understand what can be done, over and above befriending, to help reduce feelings of social isolation and increase confidence to participate in community activities.
Befrienders taking a well-earned break at Bognor
Befriending is simply a supported friendship between two people; a volunteer-befriender and a member of the local community who feels isolated or alone. This provides the individual with someone they know who is there for them without expecting payment or a return of favour.
Many of the brilliant volunteers that came to us as a result of our previous Befriending Service, and who still currently befriend in Bracknell Forest Borough, are helping us with this valuable research.
If you would like to know more about our project, or would like to help in some way, please email us.
Here is a video that explains the Service in more detail:
Befriending Activity Café
This Activity Café takes place on on Thursdays 2-4pm at the involve offices. This is for clients of the befriending scheme and is another way to get isolated people together. There will be a range of activities such as arts & crafts, games, music and more. Light refreshments will be provided.
Befriending Volunteers needed in Sandhurst!
Would you like to make a difference to someone else's life? If you have some time to spare, the Befriending Service would love to hear from you. We are currently particularly keen to find more volunteers who could visit people in Sandhurst/Crowthorne. Volunteering as a Befriender can be a great way to help your local community and to meet new people. If you're friendly, empathetic, and able to spare some time each week, please contact: Lynn Baldwin or telephone 01344 383522.
Befriending Coffee Mornings
Alternate Mondays 10.00 - 12.00 at the Bracknell Leisure Centre Café, RG12 9SE.
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We hold regular social coffee events for befriending, and for former and working carers. The cost of attending can prove particularly difficult for some people, especially the transport costs for those who are frail and disabled, and for volunteers on low incomes who provide invaluable befriending support.
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