Working Together
to end Homelessness

All kinds of people apply to become Facing Change befrienders, and all have their own reasons for wanting to get involved.  We do not require befrienders to have lots of qualifications or experience but we look for befrienders who are caring, non-judgemental and supportive of people facing disadvantage and challenges in life.  It is the hope of the project that in the future women who have had a befriender and felt it has helped them move forward in life may wish to become a befriender themselves.

You would meet with your befriender either weekly or fortnightly depending on what you would prefer and the availability of the befriender. Meetings will usually last 2-3 hours at a time depending on what you do and where you go together.

Many things are taken into consideration when matching you with your befriender. Personality, interests, availability and location to name a few; however the project coordinator will also use their instinct about matches too.

No, currently the Facing Change project will provide the befriender with expenses for the activities you will do together on a monthly basis. As budgets are limited it will be up to you and your befriender to decide how to spend this budget, for example you may decide to have a few weeks where you go for a coffee or a walk and then the following week spend a bit more and have a nice lunch or trip to the cinema.

There are lots of different activities you could do with your befriender, you could:

• Simply go for a coffee
• Go to the cinema
• Go bowling
• Go to the gym, or other healthy activities such as a walk or a swim
• Join a group such as Arts and Crafts, Photography, Cookery or Computing etc
• Shopping

These are just a few suggestions you and your befriender will have your own interests, so it’s really about finding out what you both enjoy doing, or deciding to try something different.

Research into the usual length of a befriending relationship suggests that they usually last around 12–18 months, however they may be much shorter than this or a bit longer. The ending of a befriending relationship is a positive thing because this is a sign that you have moved your life forward into a place where you don’t feel you need the support of a befriender anymore.

Sometimes, even when a great deal of care has been taken to match someone with a befriender it simply just doesn’t work out. This will usually be no-one’s ‘fault’ but just as in everyday life we don’t get along with everyone we meet. If this happens both you and the befriender would be supported to move on from this into a more positive befriending relationship.

If you are receiving support from an organisation such as Drug and Alcohol services, speak to your key worker and ask if they can make a referral for you. If an initial enquiry from them suggests you would benefit from our service we will send over the forms to complete and your worker will support you to get these back to us. Please see the back of this leaflet for more details about this process. If you are not sure you definitely want a befriender but would like to find out more before making your mind up, the Project Coordinator will make time to have a chat with you about befriending without you having to complete any forms.

This depends on whether there is a suitable match for you at the time.  The Facing Change project will never just put two people together because they are ‘available’ at the same time.  If there is a suitable match for you it would happen quickly, hopefully within a few weeks, but if there was no suitable match at the time the Project Coordinator would discuss with you how long it may take.  The Facing Change project aims to keep anyone waiting on a befriender updated regularly so you know you have not been forgotten about.