Volunteer Befriending Service

The Volunteer Befriending Service, provided by the Volunteer Centre Sunderland is aimed at adult residents, aged over 50 in the Sunderland area. The service will help to provide service users:

• opportunities to socialise or undertake leisure pursuits independently from their carer
• carer's respite form their dependent loved ones
• stimulating alternatives to the normal daily routine

The service is free of charge and uses volunteers to act as befrienders.  The Volunteer Befriender will:

• offer friendship
• provide conversation and a listening ear
• write letters on behalf of service users
• accompany the service user on a walk, to the shops or an appointment
• take the service user out in their wheel chair if the volunteer is able and willing

The Volunteer Befriender will not be expected to undertake the following:

• nursing duties
• lifting/handling service users
• household duties
• cooking or food preparation
• collecting benefits
• handling cash or cheque's
• paying bills
• shopping

If you would like to refer someone to the service please contact the Volunteer Centre on

(0191) 5678902

Volunteering with the Befriending Service

• Can you spare a few hours a week to visit people who require companionship?
• Do you enjoy meeting people from a wide range of backgrounds?

If yes then you may like to volunteer with the befriending service.  Volunteers aged 21 plus who have a genuine desire to help people are required to visit older and isolated people in their own homes as described in the service provided above.

Volunteers need good oral communication and listening skills and the ability to relate to older people.  All out of pocket expenses will be reimbursed.