Amber Valley CVS Befriending Service

Successful Befriending Match

Since 1998, we have been providing a FREE Befriending service for lonely, isolated people in Amber Valley. What does a Befriender do? A Befriender is a volunteer who visits an isolated person, once a week in their own home to provide companionship.

Befrienders beat Loneliness

What support do we offer the Befriender? We provide free training, which takes place in our office in Ripley, Derbyshire. We reimburse any travel expenses you incur from travelling to and from the training, and once you are an established Befriender, from your house to the home of the person you are visiting, and the return journey. Our dedicated Befriending Project Worker, Clare Salmons will give you regular telephone calls for quick catch-ups in regards to how things are going with the person you visit.

No special qualifications are required to volunteer as a Befriender, just the ability to listen and to show an interest in someone else’s life.

We recognise that social isolation can occur for a variety of reasons and accept referrals for people who are elderly, have learning difficulties or a mental health problem. Referrals are made to the scheme by: A professional involved in the care of the person, e.g, a social worker, care worker, doctor or family member or a representative of a voluntary organisation.

Successful befriending match

What happens next? If you are considering becoming a volunteer Befriender, we would love to have you! You would need to attend a group training course which takes place at our office on Ripley Market Place. The course is informal, tutor led with discussions and very little writing We will discuss areas such as: the role of Amber Valley CVS, communication, the role of a Befriender, boundaries, relationship guidelines, overview of mental health and dementia, safeguarding and confidentiality, health and safety, monitoring and support, endings and beginnings and how to claim your expenses back. You would also need to have a DBS Police check carried out, which we will do for you and you will need to provide two references. If you would like more information about becoming a Befriender or to refer someone to our free service, please contact Clare Salmons, Befriending Project Worker on 01773 512076 / claresalmons@avcvs.org