Volunteer Befriending Service

By the end of the year (2009), Duchess of Kent House Charity with help from Wokingham District Cancer Care Trust will be funding a new Volunteer Befriending Service to cover the whole of west and central Berkshire.

This service will initially target hospice care patients and carers and offer them the opportunity of being befriended by a volunteer on a weekly basis in their own homes. The three audiences the service will be offered to will be patients who feel isolated, carers needing a break and discharged patients from Day Therapy. This will be done across Reading, Wokingham & Newbury. For many people friendship ia a social inclusion and the network support that goes with it are part of the inter-personal relationships of everyday life, but not everyone is fortunate in this way. The Befriending Service aims to improve the quality of life by volunteers providing friendship and undivided attention. People referred to the scheme will be matched with a volunteer by interest, location, age and so on. Obviously there will be an intense period of training which will also encompass suitability of the volunteer.

What volunteers would do:

• Offer support and companionship to patients and carers
• Occasional shopping for basic items
• Prepare light snacks
• Provide a break fir carer
• Make a commitment of time
• Stay within their boundaries