Befriending Service - Increasing Capacity (360G-ocf-a061600000lvInp)

Befriending Service Increasing CapacityThrough a variety of carefully organised activities, we support and befriend those experiencing loneliness and isolation; • providing a sense of belonging for those who feel unwanted, excluded and forgotten • offering the opportunity to make friends and meet people in a supportive environment • helping people to regain social confidence and contribute to society Direct benefit: Those in receipt of our service benefiting from a reduction in loneliness, improved social confidence, wider network of social contacts. Indirect Beneficiaries: Families are often relieved to know there is someone providing support and companionship to their loved one. Given the known links between loneliness and mental and physical ill health, our services helps to improve health and well-being of individuals with a knock on effect of reduced demand on health & social care services. We rely heavily on volunteer input and volunteering reduces loneliness, improves connectedness with local community develops skills and improves confidence. To recruit a Volunteer Recruitment & Training Co-ordinator to be responsible for volunteer recruitment and taking volunteers through the whole recruitment, interviewing, vetting and induction process (reviewing and improving office systems in the process) and increasing our capacity to match volunteers with those waiting for a befriender. The Co-ordinator will work with other staff responsible for managing referrals (typically from health and social services) of those in need of befriending and ensure that the matching of volunteers and referrals is optimised and greatly accelerated. To reduce the befriending waiting list by responding in a timelier manner to those in need of the befriending service and to those expressing an interest in volunteering. This requires an additional resource – a Volunteer Recruitment & Training Co-ordinator. Having one person responsible for volunteer recruitment and processing through to readiness for matching will also enable review and streamlining of our current systems, thereby improving efficiency in the longer term. To reduce the administrative load on existing staff who have stepped in to respond to increased demand on the service but whose workloads are becoming unmanageable and unsustainable.