Supporting fellow Scots with a regular chat

November 1st – 7th is Befriending Week, where we celebrate the invaluable service our Befriender Blether Buddies give by regularly chatting to some of our more isolated clients. Throughout the pandemic the Blether Buddy Befrienders became ever more important with the growing social isolation. Stephen has been volunteering his time to work as a Befriender and he chatted to us about what it means:

Why did you want to volunteer for scotscare?

I thought it would be nice to help out other scots living in and around london.

Do you feel you get more out of your volunteer experience as it meant you were able to support other scots?

Definitely. Supporting other scots makes working with ScotsCare such a pleasure.

How have you personally benefitted from the experience?

Massively, its taught me lots of skills about listening and understanding. The training scotscare provide is great.

What do you think your befriendee gets out of the relationship? Have you seen a change in them since you have been their befriendee?

I think she likes having a friendly voice on the phone and the activities we do keeps her mind sharp. Ive noticed an improvement in memory, yes.

Do you think that the isolating impact of Covid-19 has made your befriending even more important to your befriendee?

I think so, visits were limited to care staff only so having a caller on a regular basis has helped.

Would you recommend this to others? If so, what would you say to them?

I highly recommend it. Selfishly speaking, i’ve had so much happiness from my client and i’ve learned so much. To anyone thinking about it, i’d say give it a try as i know theyd love it.

What is scotscare like to volunteer for?

Brilliant. You get loads of support and training. Every time I have asked a question I get an answer and actions are always followed up. Scotscare is such an amazing organisation.

Would you like to volunteer for ScotsCare? Please contact volunteering@scotscare.com to find out more.