The No.1 Befriending Agency was formed in September 2016 by a group of professionals who, when working as carers for older adults, frequently experienced that the people they cared for longed for meaningful interaction in addition to the simple mechanical acts of care they received.
Older people are sadly especially vulnerable to feeling lonely, as they often have a very limited number of social interactions in a week, mostly due to mobility issues. In order to tackle this loneliness and isolation, we created a befriending service where trained volunteers visit isolated older people and spend some time with them to have a wee chatter alongside a cup of tea.
We offer befriending free of charge thanks to our exceptional care service, which is increasingly popular among older adults who wish to have a person-centred care service that takes their wellbeing seriously.
We operate our befriending and our care service based on the same values. We regularly seek feedback from the people we support and those close to them. We believe in creating an environment of constant improvement, where support is closely monitored, to ensure service users are satisfied with the services they receive.
Whilst we are currently unable to accept new referrals to our one-to-one befriending service we have a jam packed in person events programme which is open to those who live in Glasgow, live alone and would benefit from connecting with others and their local community. Also 3 times a week we host group befriending online which brings people together for quizzes, live music, debates, desert island discs, crafts, conversation and much, much more! Support is also available to assist with tech difficulties and training to connect to these sessions.
Individuals can self refer or organisations can do so on their behalf. Please contact the No 1 Befriending Agency on 0141 465 6998 or email [email protected]. Our website is www.befriend.org.uk and you can follow us on twitter, facebook and instagram.
