Contact: Sarah Radford

Bassetlaw Action Centre
Canal Street
Retford
DN22 6EZ
Telephone: 01777 709650

Email: befriending@actioncentre.org.uk

To download the Befriending leaflet please click here

To read our latest case study please click here

Face to Face Befriending
Our befriending scheme can receive referrals from anyone who is suffering from extreme loneliness.  Befriending is a means to reduce isolation and increase independence.

Our clients are placed with a befriender who will visit them for one hour a week in their own home or telephone them to chat and encouraging them to make positive choices to help them to help themselves.

When the clients are referred to us, we match them with a volunteer, who may have similar interests and hobbies and lives in the same area.  This service is free of charge, but there may be travel costs incurred for the volunteer mileage if they are visiting in the home.

Telephone Befriending
Our telephone befriending is a free service which offers weekly calls made to our clients by volunteers.

As with home visits, we ensure to match our clients with a volunteer who may have similar interests or hobbies, and the volunteer will encourage clients over the duration of the call to  make positive choices.

For those clients who are unable to have home visits or use the telephone we may be able to offer befriending letters.

Peer to Peer Befriending
Peer to peer befriending is a great way for clients to support each other through weekly telephone calls. Befriending not only benefits the person who receives the call but also the person who provides the call. People often volunteer for Befriending as a way to reduce their own isolation and loneliness whilst helping another person.

As such we now offer Peer to Peer Befriending Support. This is where 2 clients waiting for a volunteer will contact each other via telephone and Befriend each other. This enables both clients to give and receive support, build friendships and help each other overcome their feelings of loneliness and isolation.

A befriender’s point of view:

►   I knock shouting” it’s only me ” even though I know I will probably have to explain who I am anyway.

►   Some will remember others won’t but either way it’s always a pleasure to receive a warm welcome from my ladies , as I like to think of them.

►   We chat, often the same conversation, it doesn’t matter , they are communicating with another person. I try to take a stimulus with me based on a previous visit or my knowledge of the client’s interests. There is a range of large format books in the library which are very useful for this, we end up singing , discussing and most importantly I think, laughing.

►   Never a dull moment with the volunteering ,not all altruistic though ,it is certainly helping me through my tough times if only they knew that my ladies are probably doing more for me than I am for them.

Could you be a volunteer Befriender?

We are always looking for new volunteers to join our team, as there are a lot of lonely and vulnerable people that would like a visit.

For further information, please contact us at the address above or visit or Volunteering page by clicking here.