Community Volunteer Befriender

SLaM provides a trust wide community-based befriending service for service users living in one of four boroughs (Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham) Please specify which borough you would like to be placed in on your application.

Our befrienders are matched one-to-one with a service user based on shared interests for 9 months, befrienders provide consistent support tailored to each person. You will work with your service user to establish what their interests are, so that you can support them to access events and activities in their local community, that align with their passions.

Many people with mental health challenges find themselves isolated and may feel unsure of where to begin accessing their communities, this is where our service comes in, we provide that helping hand! We listen without judgement and without a clinical Lense, which is what makes our service unique as befrienders.

Befrienders are provided the opportunity to understand what mental health difficulties can look like from the perspective of the service user, you will have the opportunity to experience a day in the life of our service users and the obstacles they may face.

The goal for our befrienders is to provide valuable social support in order to help the service user gain the confidence necessary to build their identity and establish a community network, outside of their mental health diagnosis.

We aim to de-stigmatise mental health difficulties and provide an opportunity to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and lived experience; This opportunity will enable volunteers to gain valuable insight that will enhance their communication and rapport building skills, as well as make an immediate difference to a vulnerable person, with potentially lifechanging effects.

The goals and activities will be very individual to each service user. Befrienders should be prepared to support and accompany service users to do activities they would like to do, to try new things, and to work towards their goals. This might involve a walk in the park; a visit to a café; going for an art class; joining a support group; finding various workshops; a study session; attending an employment fair or accompanying your service user to help them gain confidence on public transport.