Beatson Cancer Charity

Our Telephone Befriending service started at the start of the very first lockdown in March 2020 as part of our emergency COVID response. Adapted from another in person friendship service, we offer a positive and supportive conversation to our service users, and the chance to build up a good rapport with our volunteer as it will be the same volunteer who calls each time. Calls can be made Monday - Friday 9-5pm and can be made weekly or fortnightly. The service is opened to current cancer patients, former patients, family members and carers. Open to anyone affected by cancer who would like someone to talk to. We also signpost clients who may be looking for that bit extra support such as financial, peer support groups etc. It is worth noting that our service is not a medical helpline, an advocacy line or mental health care support.

Information for volunteers

Our volunteer team offer a positive, support conversation to our service users. The Befriending call is a friendly chat and helps our service users feel at ease. ”¯Our volunteers show patience and empathy and good listening skills. We offer a non-judgmental service and respect our clients boundaries and confidentiality. All our volunteers undertake two reference checks, a full induction and we also require a PVG background check. We also offer two training calls for our volunteers. It is also important that any clients we have get the best support so we regularly send out an updated sheet with other support networks that are available. After every call our volunteers complete a feedback form and we have monthly catch ups with the team too.