The volunteer will meet regularly on either a weekly or fortnightly basis for a few hours at a time with the service user they are matched with. The idea is for the volunteer and service user to meet up and do activities that will be enjoyable and fun to do over a structured period of time.

The emphasis on the befriending support is to enhance the quality of a person's life by supporting and promoting his/her welfare, personal development and capacity for self determination.

Certain aims and objectives have been set for us to achieve with those who are accessing the service within the 4 sections of the befriending scheme.

Children and Young People - 7 to 15 years

Our Aim is: To support vulnerable young persons between the age of 7 and 15 years on a one to one basis with a trained volunteer who are experiencing significant difficulties in their life and who would benefit from the input of a volunteer

Our objectives we hope to achieve whilst providing one to one support are:

Develop a greater degree of self confidence and emotional growth
Develop greater capacity to make use of their own personal resources
Develop greater capacity to form and maintain positive relationships with others
Develop a greater degree of feelings of achivement
Develop their current skills and abilities and experience new activities

Children and Young People with Additional Support Needs - 7 to 18 Years

Our Aim is: To support the young persons with idenfitied additional support needs aged between 7 and 18 years who will benefit from the input of a volunteer on a one to one basis or with the presence of a carer when deemed necessary

Our objectives we hope to achieve whilst providing one to one support are:

To support the young person in the process of achieving the long-term educational objectives identified in their Co-ordinated support plan.
To enable the young person increase the ability to take part more regularly in mainstream activities in the community
To built on the young person’s current skills and abilities through accessing activities
Increase the ability for the young person to gain a sense of independence
To support the young person during a particular transition in their lives and increasing their ability to make positive informed choices

Young Adults - 16 to 25 Years

Our Aim is: To support vulnerable young adults between the age of 16 and 25, who are either homeless or potentially homeless, who may have addtional support needs and would benefit from the input of a volunteer

Our objectives we hope to achieve whilst providing one to one support are:

To build the young adult’s sense of self confidence and self worth
To promote, through participation in a range of activities, an awareness of their existing skills and abilities; and build their capacity to cope with new experiences
To enable the young adult to reflect on the decisions they make in their life and to consider the influences that have an impact on their decisions
To support a young adult to actively change an aspect of their lifestyle that they feel is detrimental and that they wish to change
To enable the young adult to develop the confidence to form and maintain positive relationships with others in the community

Adults - 60+ Years

Our Aim is:To support an older member of the community who is currently living in their own home, who is significantly socially isolated with very limited social contact with others, who may be experiencing a period of significant loss or change in their lives and would benefit from the input of a volunteer

Our objectives we hope to achieve whilst providing one to one support are:

To help to reduce their feelings of isolation
To encourage their ability to continue to be as independent as possible
To increase better social connections and social contact within their community
To increase positive mental health and well being and feeling of positive self worth