Cover your tracks
The Buddy Scheme is a peer mentoring and befriending service which currently has a very experienced, full time project coordinator and 23 trained volunteer mentors (or buddies) who, after receiving full training from us, each support between one and three service users at any one time. They do this in the form of weekly, one to one visits in the service user’s home for around an hour. Usually these relationships last for around 4 – 5 months, but this is very much an average and we have relationships which can be a good deal longer or shorter.
During these weekly meetings the buddies aim to provide a listening ear, emotional support and encouragement. By doing this, they help service users to exercise control and choice over their own lives by increasing feelings of
self - confidence and self-esteem, increasing opportunities for social networking and trying to reduce feelings of isolation. In short, the buddy’s role is to allow our service users to reach their fullest potential and independence.
It’s not all about the service users though, our buddies usually have their own story to tell and some are ex-service users, so buddying is often a continuation of their own journey. We are very keen that volunteers are included in all that Splitz does so they are invited to all team events and training days in addition to receiving support from the co-ordinator and other members of the Splitz team. Our buddies report that they find volunteering for us a very positive experience.
We believe that through a sensitive, inclusive approach to both our volunteers and clients, the Buddy Scheme has made a real difference to peoples lives.
You can listen to Amy's story by clicking on the link Amy's Story
If you want to volunteer on the Buddy Scheme, click here to get an application form
We are accredited by Investing in Volunteers and Mentoring and Befriending Foundation