Improving the quality of life of people

with learning disabilities and their

carers through volunteer befriending

 










                        
Scottish   Charity No. SC030132

Company Ltd by Guarantee, No. SC297772

We run befriending services that link people with learning disabilities and volunteers so they can meet up regularly to do activities they both enjoy.  

The Need We Meet:
¨ Children, young people and adults with learning disabilities often have no social contacts and no experience of making friends. 
¨  This is frustrating, isolating and limiting; they cannot develop the friendships that we all need in our lives, and they do not have any way of pursuing interests and being part of the community.
¨  Carers have a stressful role and need regular respite to sustain it.

What Makes Befriending So Effective

¨     The relationship between someone with learning disabilities and their volunteer has a very special quality because the volunteer is there purely out of choice.  This has a huge impact on their quality of life and outlook.

¨  We link children and young people with volunteers of a similar age: this cannot be achieved by conventional support services.
¨  Carers know that while they are having  a break, the person they look after is doing something they enjoy.

How Our Services Work

1:1 links

¨    People with learning disabilities of all ages are matched 1:1 with volunteers who share their interests, are usually of a similar age and meet up with them regularly. 

¨    Activities are entirely up to them and are usually out in the community doing things like evening classes, arts & crafts, golf, going to the cinema, cycling, local events, walks, swimming, shopping, dance classes or football.

¨    Activities usually last for around three hours and can be weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

Befriending Groups

¨    All our branches run young people’s groups (for ages 16-25) and some run them for children (ages 8-16) and adults (over 25).

¨    As well as being fun, the groups build confidence and help develop the ability to interact and communicate as part of a group.

¨    Groups usually have roughly equal numbers of volunteers and service users and meet up on a weekday evening.

¨    Group members decide what they want to do, and as well as social and leisure activities, they often do music, art & crafts, drama and outward bound projects.

How We Are Organised

We have four Branches: Berwickshire, Buddies Central Borders, Roxburgh and Tweeddale.   Each branch has its own Co-ordinator, who works with service users, recruits, checks and trains volunteers and creates and supports all the befriending links and groups in their area.

Would You Like To Use Our Services Or Volunteer?

If you or the person you care for has learning disabilities, you can  find out more on our Service user and Carer pages.

If you are interested in volunteering, please visit our Volunteering page