We held our first Volunteer Forum recently. We invited all our volunteers to attend as well as guest speakers from The Samaritans, LILY and Elements at the Manor. The Forum was held in the Parish Council Rooms in South Wootton as this was deemed to be a mid-point for all our volunteers.

The thinking behind holding the Forum was to find out from our volunteers if the support and training we give them enabled them to feel confident when providing our befriending service. The guest speakers pitched their talks to give advice on how our volunteers can provide the best quality of support to their client.

The Samaritans explained about the importance of “open” questions. This involves phrasing questions to the clients in a way that would need more than a yes or no answer and are useful for encouraging someone to express their thoughts and feelings. For example, instead of “Are you feeling well today” this could be phrased as “How are you feeling today?”. Using words such as “what”, “when”, “where” and “how” can encourage a client to be more open. They also showed us how to look for signs of how a client is feeling from their body language  and to use this in influencing the questions we ask.

Rebekah from LILY explained how LILY works in conjunction with the local council, WNB and other organisations. She explained that their website is a hub for local communities to find out about agencies and organisations who advertise their services and events. She talked about the changes they had implemented during Covid and how their aim is to reduce social isolation in all age groups.

Annette, owner of Elements at the Manor gave a talk on the importance of maintaining self-care and wellbeing. She described how it is essential for our volunteers to take time for themselves, to stay hydrated and to eat a balanced diet. She explained that if you look after yourself properly then you are more able to look after someone else better. She also showed us some simple exercises to help keep joints mobile and to reduce stress within our bodies. These exercises could be done in an armchair and would be suitable to be shown to our clients.

After the talks there was an opportunity to have discussions. Each table had a lead person who prompted questions that we designed to find out why our volunteers chose to work with WNB, whether they felt their training met their needs and expectations and what WNB could do to improve the support and advice that we give to them. There was some very interesting discussions and feedback which on the whole was very positive to read.

We ended the session with a delicious lunch provided by The Filling Station. The conversations continued and it was lovely to hear the chatter and buzz from everyone. The general opinion on the event was that everyone had enjoyed it and appreciated the time to be able to give some feedback.

We finished off our review by sending out an anonymous survey. We had a good response and the findings showed:

• Over 60% of participants prefer to learn in small groups and talking to other volunteers was the next most popular choice. A few prefer to learn on their own or by reading. E-learning was an option no one selected
• Our face to face volunteer meetings are at a time or on a day 75% of participants can’t make.
• 43% of respondents regularly come to face to face volunteer meetings and 26% occasionally come along, while 21% have never done so.
• 43% of participants have never joined a Zoom volunteer meeting, while 21% regularly do and 26% do occasionally.
• 67% of respondents say the Zoom meetings are on a day or time you can’t make, and 25% say you can’t use Zoom
• 100% of participants say our volunteer mailouts are useful! Volunteers enjoy being kept up to date, and the mailouts help them to feel part of the volunteer team. Adding some real life stories might be a worthwhile addition.
• Most of the volunteers who replied, nearly 44%, have volunteered with us for 1-5 years. 26% have volunteered 5-10 years and nearly 9% over 10 years.

The comments told us that it’s hard for many of our volunteers to find the time to come to a face to face meeting, however that for people who are able to attend its helpful to meet other volunteers and talk.

Zoom is something many of them don’t feel comfortable with or would need help to learn about and this puts them off.

Volunteers said that they enjoy giving back to the community and making a difference, that they enjoy meeting clients and they feel a sense of purpose about what they do. Volunteers were also very complimentary about the organisation.

If you would like to see the full results of the survey please drop us an email at info@wnbefriending.org.uk

Due to the Forum being such a success WNB are hoping this will become an annual event. This will enable us to keep evolving not just our services but the training and support we give to the volunteers who carry out the service.

St Nicholas’ Church in Dersingham held their annual Christmas Tree festival and coffee morning at the beginning of December. West Norfolk Befriending sponsored a tree which was kindly decorated by Jo Itter who made many of the decorations herself. The idea of the Festival is to promote the services of many local organisations and members of the public can view the trees and pick up leaflets and information about the services available.

There are many of these Christmas Tree Festivals around the county including one that was held at St John’s Church in Terrington St John. Another of our past volunteers, Margaret, kindly decorated a tree on our behalf and this was on display at the church for the public to view.

This is a lovely way to promote West Norfolk Befriending whilst adding to the festive cheer at the same time. Our thanks to the volunteers who kindly agreed to oversee the decorating.

I’ve been a Befriender for six months now and the time has flown by. Visiting an isolated older person in their home is rewarding and positive. Here are five things I’ve learnt from the Befriending experience.

1. Volunteering helps volunteers, too!

It’s not just the people you’re supporting who benefit from you giving your free time. It’s hugely rewarding for you, too. Benefits include a sense of fulfilment, uplifted spirits and a way of meeting new people. It can really boost your confidence to know that you are helping someone and doing that little bit to improve their life. Every time I visit my client, I feel the positive impact of having brightened up someone else’s day. It’s been scientifically proven that doing good deeds can help with our mood, too. Not to mention getting to know other volunteers at our monthly meetings – they are a lovely bunch and have a wealth of experience to share.

2. New skills

I’ve attended several training sessions during my time here so far, on subjects as wide-ranging as confidentiality and fire safety. I have even honed my skills in website design, having rebuilt this very site on a voluntary basis. Volunteering for a small charity means there could be more opportunities to get involved and use or develop your skills. It’s always worth asking.

3. Greater awareness of the past

It’s the little things we take for granted, like being able to run the washing machine and looking everything up on the Internet, or buying off-the-rack clothes – the older generation can bring to life what it was like before all these conveniences! In our Sharing Stories project, we loved hearing about everyday life and learning about the fascinating lives our clients have led. We’ll be updating you on this wonderful project soon, so watch this space.

4. An insight into how other people think

Befriending often brings together two people who might never have met under normal circumstances. This makes it a lovely opportunity to get to know other views on life and understand other people better. Always a great asset in any social situation.

5. It’s the simple things that make a difference

Visiting someone once every fortnight might not seem like much – but that regular, reliable contact, that talk shared over a hot cup of tea, could make all the difference to them. According to the Health Foundation, “one in three older people in the UK live alone”. This is true for many of our clients. Sometimes they might not have seen anyone for several days, so being able to chat with you really can make their day.

These are some of my own experiences as a Befriender, but I’d love to hear yours – what’s your most memorable moment? What have you learnt?

Remember not to use any names to keep peoples’ identities private.

If you’re ready to apply for a Befriender role, click here.