Delivered as part of the “SHIC (Staying Healthy, Independent and Connected)” service in partnership with Carers Plus Yorkshire, our befriending service is here to support people aged 18+ in Scarborough and surrounding villages who are experiencing loneliness or isolation and want to get back out in the community, make new friends and find new activities and places they enjoy. You’ll meet with our co-ordinator who will complete a simple needs assessment, find out more about you, what you enjoy and what sort of person you’d like to spend time with. We then work on finding you a volunteer with some shared interests and match you together with a simple plan of what you’re going to do and how often.

Matches are typically around 6 moths and we hope in that time, you begin to build up new friendship networks and your confidence, feeling more connected to your local community. If you’d like to then become a befriender yourself and widen your social network even further, our co-ordinator will support you through that process including a short training session before finding a match for you.

To access befriending, you need to be aged 18+ and live in Scarborough and surrounding villages. You don’t have to have mental health issues, just want to feel less isolated and more connected. The service isn’t suitable for people with very complex needs.

For further information please contact our office on 01723 339838 or email info@swrmind.org.uk