Battersea Befriending Network
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : r**************3@g***l.c*m
Mission Statement
Battersea Befriending Network recruits, trains and supports volunteers to befriend individuals within the London Borough of Wandsworth who suffer social isolation because of mental health problems.
About This Cause
Battersea Befriending Network ("BBN" for short) is a small charitable organisation run entirely by volunteers for the purpose of reducing the social isolation experienced by adult individuals living in the London Borough of Wandsworth who suffer from various forms of mental ill-health. It does this by recruiting and training volunteers (in courses run twice-yearly by active or retired mental health professionals) to befriend, on a one-to-one basis, individuals who have been referred to us by local community mental health teams or by other qualified agencies as in need of such assistance to re-integrate into society. Befrienders contribute to their befriendees' recovery by, in the first place, valuing and affirming them as persons, giving them a listening ear, and building their confidence by accompanying them in activities such as shopping, recreational walks and visits to cafes, cinemas, museums or sports facilities. BBN gives ongoing support to its volunteer befrienders by (1) running bi-monthly support and supervision groups at which they can discuss their experience and raise any problems or concerns about their befriendees, and (2) assigning to each befriender an experienced mentor whom they can contact at any time between those supervision meetings with any issues or concerns. BBN currently supports 24 active befriending relationships, but at present has a waiting list of 20 referrals waiting volunteers to befriend them. We hope to meet the needs of many of these with our next group of volunteers being trained at the end of April 2017. The twice-yearly training courses are main expenditure, in the form of publicity, rental of premises for the event and catering. Since BBN commenced full operation in 2010, its past and present befriending relationships have had a proven beneficial effect on those referred to us, as is reflected in the increasing demand for our services.