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Click here to access our application form, which can be downloaded and returned to us via email to befriend@berwickshirehousing.org.uk

Get in touch if you require any support with this.

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BeFriend is a befriending service supported by the National Lottery Community Fund Scotland and Berwickshire Housing Association, to help people living in Berwickshire and Kelso who are over the age of 65, to maintain social connections and engage with their local communities.

More information is available on our website and Facebook, accessed via the following links:

https://www.berwickshirehousing.org.uk/our-community/befriending/

https://www.facebook.com/BHABeFriend/

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Contact details:

befriend@berwickshirehousing.org.uk

0800 652 8104

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Watch these two short video clips to show the impact befriending has.

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Davie Grey Part One - A Short Story on Loneliness by Befriending Networks

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Davie Grey Part Two - A Short Story on Loneliness by Befriending Networks

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You can have a befriender visit you in your home, or telephone you, for chats and companionship. Your befriender may be able to take you out, to a cafe, for example, or to a group or event in the community.

BeFriend staff also facilitate community befriending, where we invite a group of befriendees out to local events, such as community lunches and tea dances, exercise classes, or trips to garden centres or places of interest.

There are no costs associated with BeFriend, but we do accept donations...

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Many of our volunteers are over the age of 65. There is no age limit to volunteering as a befriender, and we welcome you to consider whether you can befriend a peer.

The befriender benefits by connecting with others, and doing something positive in their community.

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Once we have received your application form, we will contact you or the person who has referred you, to discuss it and arrange an assessment visit.

At the assessment visit, we will ask some questions about you, your living arrangements, and how you manage at home. This is your opportunity to let us know about anything that you think we should know and consider when being matched with a befriender.

We will add you to our database, and contact you when we have a suitable person who can visit. If in agreement, we would make a visit with the befriender to introduce you to them.

Once matched, befrienders will make contact with you at mutually agreed times, which could be weekly, fortnightly or monthly, depending on the wishes and capacity of both befriendee and befriender.

Befriend staff will be contactable and there to support the befriending relationship.