We are looking for amazing people who are 18 years old and over to help support us by volunteering in our Telephone Befriending team.
We offer our Telephone Befriending Service to our members for up to six months and they will receive an hour long phone call each week.
This is where you come in. After you have completed training with us, we will match you with one of our members and you will be their Befriender for up to 6 months. You will build a trusting and respectful relationship with your Befriendee over the telephone and offer a listening ear for them to talk openly about their thoughts and feelings.
This could be a rewarding role to do if you are studying or working as it is only a small amount of time each week. This could also be a great role if you're not in employment and would like to do something new with your time.
If you are thinking of a career in mental health or a role in the charity sector, this can be a useful opportunity to build experience. Many of our current members of staff began their career by volunteering with the charity.
Depending on your availability we will begin by matching you with one member, however, if you have the time and would like to take on a second member, we can arrange this with you.
This is a very flexible role and you are able to make calls from any location, providing you are in a quiet environment. Our volunteers make Befriending calls from their own phones. If you do not have unlimited free calls, we can help you to get a network plan which will cover the cost of your Befriending calls.
We want to make sure that the day and time of the calls work for you. We aim to keep your calls to the same day and time each week. We are able to make calls between Monday to Friday. Some people prefer to have their calls in the morning, some the afternoon and some in the evening.
Our volunteers regularly provide us with positive feedback, telling us what a rewarding role it is. This is a wonderful opportunity not only to support others but to develop your confidence, knowledge, listening skills and awareness.
As Changes Bristol is a Peer Support mental health charity, we welcome those with personal lived experience of mental health difficulties, or have supported others who have experienced mental health difficulties. We would also like to hear from those who may not have personal experience with mental health struggles but are passionate about supporting those who do.
If this is something that you would like to be part of and you would like more information and/ or an application form, please email befriending@changesbristol.org.uk
Alternatively, if you're not able to email, please contact us by phoning our office on 0117 941 1123