Volunteer Telephone Befriender

Background

We want to recruit volunteers in this exciting brand-new role. In the past we have successfully used volunteering to help people to make changes in their lives, whether that is gaining new skills, making friends, becoming more confident or contributing to their job-readiness.

The Role

This is a new role and will very much be what you make it. It is expected to include communicating and working with people over the telephone, supporting people to access activities and providing 1:1 telephone support for individuals to help them to engage with wellbeing activities. If you’re a friendly person who likes talking to people, then this is the role for you.

What does a volunteer befriender do?

To telephone befriendees for around 10-30 minutes and arrange the dates and times of future calls directly with the client befriendee. This can be from once a day to once a month, but individual needs will be matched with your availability.

To provide support over the telephone and help improve confidence and self-esteem.Help befriendees engage in health and wellbeing activities, making the befriendee feel better about themselves.

To signpost people to appropriate services for further support and act as a reliable source of information should it be required by the befriendee.

To provide updates to the Together Talks Support Team after every call. This will allow the department to offer more support or guidance if required.

To report back any issues or concerns that need dealing with by the Together Talks Support Team.

It is important to note telephone befriending is not counselling or therapy and other services must be sought or signposted if this is required. Our Volunteers are not trained counsellors or therapists

Who are we looking for?

There are many skills, experiences and attitudes that would be useful to bring to the role. It is key that you:

• Be punctual and reliable as your befriendees will be waiting for your call
• Be able to communicate well with other people and happy to do this over the phone
• Have a caring nature and be able to empathise with others
• Be non-judgemental and able to get along with people from different backgrounds
• Be able to organise your own diary and plan future calls
• Be willing to undertake a small amount of e-learning and training, which may include a 2 hour training session (via Zoom or Teams) depending on the needs of your befriendee 
• Be proactive and have the ability to understand and follow clear direction
• Have access to a telephone and a quiet space to make calls
• Have basic computer skills, internet access, and an email address