Befriender (Forth Valley Services)

Barnardo’s is committed to providing ‘Better Outcomes for More Children’. Our children’s services volunteers help the charity to deliver essential services in local communities, providing support to over 300,000 children, young people and their families. This role provides a great opportunity to join our fantastic children’s services and help make a real difference.

Barnardo’s Befrienders work with young people a 1:1 basis, offering practical assistance and emotional support, to build their self-confidence, coping mechanisms and positive relationships. The work could be focused on a particular need, such as confidence building, or it could be more focused around supporting the young person to access local community groups.

We are looking for volunteers, with a passion for making a difference in young people’s lives, with a friendly and approachable attitude and an ability to engage young people, empowering them to take steps towards improving their situation and achieving their goals.

Barnardo's Forth Valley Services work in partnership with three Local Authorities – Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling and HMYOI Polmont, to deliver a wide range of services and interventions to children, young people and their families including: • Partnerships with schools – primary and secondary school partnerships across Falkirk supporting children and families in school and at home. • Family Group Decision Making (Falkirk/Stirling) -supporting family members within the FGDM process to develop family plans.
• Lifelong Links (Falkirk) – supporting young people in care to have a positive network around them during their time in care and in adulthood • Family Support - supporting young people and their families to enable them to remain within their own families, schools and communities • Youth and Adult Justice service (Stirling and Clacks) - supporting young people and their families involved in a range of offending behaviour • HMP/YOI supporting young people, women and their families within Polmont HM Young Offenders Institution • Forth Valley Substance Support service - supporting young people and their families where there are concerns around alcohol and other drugs.

For more information please contact: Karen Campbell on Mobile - 07776 462913 | 01324 632903 or karen.campbell@barnardos.org.uk