Befriending

Please note, this service is not available outside Age UK Bolton - Head Office's catchment area.

Email: ageingwell@ageukbolton.org.uk
Telephone: 01204 701525

Please note our befriending service is currently on hold until further notice. We apologise for any convenience caused. For more information please call us on 01204 382 411.
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Age UK Bolton is pleased to offer one-to-one befriending support and friendship to older people who live alone, are socially isolated and experiencing feelings of loneliness. The service is delivered by our wonderful Befriending Volunteers (Befrienders) who kindly visit (or in some cases telephone) their Befriendee on a weekly basis for companionship. They enjoy chatting and sharing time together and often this develops into a long-lasting friendship.

We regret our Befrienders are unable to offer other services, such as a sitting service, shopping or giving advice.

How do we match people with befrienders?

All our befriending matches are overseen by our Ageing Well Coordinator and we make our matches against mutual interests, location and other contextual information, rather than in order or receiving referrals. This is much more successful and provides good outcomes for all involved.

Across Bolton, there is always more demand for Befriending than we can support, therefore our service is always in need of Befriending volunteers. If you think you could help please do get in contact to discuss your circumstances.

How do I refer to the service?

We kindly request our referral form be completed and submitted and then the referral is reviewed. If the referral meets our acceptance criteria, we undertake a home assessment and look to recruit a suitable volunteer. Due to high demand, this can take some time - we are sorry we are unable to offer a guaranteed timescale. Once a volunteer is found, the Befriender is introduced to the Befriendee and the match made and supported.

To be referred to our befriending service the client must:
- Be aged 65 or over
- Live alone
- Be socially isolated (rarely gets out independently)
- Experience feelings of loneliness
- Wish to have a befriender
- Consent to the referral

Whilst we can accept clients with low mood and mild forgetfulness, unfortunately we are unable to accept clients experiencing clinical depression, suicidal thoughts or complex mental illness (including advancing dementia).

Referral Form

Client testimonies

"Thankyou very much for coming to visit me on a Monday afternoon, I always look forward to our chats. It is the highlight of my week!" - Jean, Befriendee

"My visiting is going really well and Barbara always seems pleased when I go round. She baked a cake yesterday which was brilliant to see her motivation to bake again. I feel that we have a good rapport now and she’s clearly open to chatting about her interests - while I share with her the pictures of my new granddaughter" - Liz, Befriender

"Befriending is going well for me, we get on like a house on fire. The match was meant to be" - Mina, Befriendee