Volunteers week – Let’s be Friends
Case Study: Let’s be Friends, Lancaster
As we continue with Volunteers Week 2021, we are pleased to this week be speaking about some of the amazing charity and voluntary organisations we work with at Tempo to highlight the work that these organisations do to support volunteers and continue to create new opportunities for them to get involved with and support their community.
We are today shining a light on a wonderful charity called Let’s be Friends, based in Lancaster. There’s no doubt the last year has been incredibly difficult on many of us in regard to being separated from friends and loved ones and Let’s be Friends believes that those from all walks of life, no matter what their circumstances or situation they find themselves in, should benefit from the support and friendship of others.
Let’s Be Friends is a new member of the Tempo Time Credits network and is a new project set up by the Lancaster Homeless Lived Experience Group, some of whom earned Tempo Time Credits through The Poverty Truth Commission who have been members of Tempo since 2018. We are absolutely thrilled to have such a caring and amazing organisation working with us at Tempo Time Credits, making a difference in peoples lives is what we believe in at Tempo so it’s always very special for us when an organisation that shares this view comes to work with Tempo.
The programmes main aim to get together people with lived experience in their own communities to befriend people who are currently homeless or who have left the streets recently. Volunteer Befrienders help those who have experienced homelessness to rebuild their confidence in making social connections and becoming members of their local community; previously people who had been rehoused felt isolated and stigmatised, and needed support from someone who understood their situation. So we are delighted that this programme has identified this need and can now offer a solution to help people move forward in life.
Befrienders include people who need support with rehabilitation, debt, recovery and ongoing health issues and volunteers provide text and phone support and more recently opportunities to get together and exercise, as well as helping people to attend appointments and fully engage with their recovery, health and self-care. Including COVID vaccinations and becoming more connected through the use of a phone and tablet.
Their message is loud and clear! That everyone is valuable and this fits well with Tempo’s message that everyone’s time is valuable.
The project trains primarily (but not solely), members of the community with lived experience of homelessness and volunteers are looking forward to being able to use their Tempo Time Credits locally at places that they previously wouldn’t have been able to afford including Williamson Park, days out at national attractions and a variety of online opportunities.
For more information, please contact julieannridgway@gmail.com Mobile: 07515 480280, or have a look at Let’sBe Friends Facebook.
Interested in working with Tempo Time Credits? Get in touch here to learn more and have a chat about what we can achieve together.
