Telephone befriender

Volunteer as a telephone befriender and help reduce loneliness for older people

Are you looking for a flexible and meaningful way to volunteer from home? Become a telephone befriender and help tackle loneliness among older people in your community. Many older adults go days or even weeks without a friendly voice. Your regular phone call could be the highlight of their week.

As a telephone befriending volunteer, you’ll be matched with an older person and give them a friendly call each week. You’ll chat about shared interests, listen, offer emotional support, and help them feel more connected to the world around them. It’s a simple way to make a big difference.

Social isolation and loneliness can have serious effects on the mental and physical health of older people. A regular conversation can lift someone’s mood, boost their confidence, and even improve their wellbeing.

Volunteering as a telephone befriender means you will:

• Help an older person feel valued and less isolated
• Make a real difference to someone’s life from the comfort of your own home
• Develop communication and active listening skills
• Gain experience that’s useful both personally and professionally
• Build rewarding, intergenerational friendships
• Feel a strong sense of purpose and connection to your community.

We ask for a minimum commitment of one hour per week for at least six months. All calls are made over the phone and can be scheduled at a time that works for both of you.

This is a flexible volunteer role you can do from home, making it ideal if you have limited time or want to fit volunteering around work or other commitments.

You won’t be doing this alone. We’ll support you every step of the way. You’ll have:

• A dedicated local coordinator to match you with someone and provide guidance
• Regular check-ins to see how things are going
• Access to online volunteer training, resources, and peer support
• Reimbursement of any agreed out-of-pocket expenses.

To be an effective volunteer telephone befriender, it helps to have a caring and dependable nature, along with the ability to build trust over the phone. The role involves offering companionship and emotional support, so the following qualities are especially important: