About Volunteering Hebrides, Befriending Lewis and Harris.
Befriending Lewis & Harris exists so that people in our community suffering from the impact of loneliness and social isolation feel connected and develop warm and supportive relationships. Our befriending service has been brought to life by a passionate team of staff and volunteers with a real heart for encouraging and helping people and has expanded due to the increased need. Everyone is different; we help each individual to find the best way for them to feel less isolated, take control and gain a sense of belonging through one to one interaction in a befriending match and opportunities to connect in group settings. The service holds the highest accolade in befriending, the Award for Befriending Excellence, accredited by the national befriending body, Befriending Networks UK. This recognises the structures and systems we have in place to support befriendees and volunteers.
Whilst we cannot currently offer face to face meetings, we are providing a telephone befriending service with our befriendees receiving regular phone calls from a befriender. We have kindness callers providing additional telephone support and small group sessions focussed on shared interests via Zoom. We produce a magazine, The Breeze, which we encourage volunteers and service users to contribute articles to and have developed a jigsaw library service. Our UK wide Befriending Arts Postcard Project has connected participants from the islands with others on the mainland.
www.befriendinglewis.org.uk
info@befriendinglewis.org.uk
Volunteering Hebrides, Befriending Lewis and Harris. Registered charity number SC041459
