Befriending
How can we help?
Our befriending services support women to improve their mental health and wellbeing. Befriending involves being matched with one of our highly-trained and supervised volunteers, who offer emotional and social support on a weekly basis.
We have three different befriending services:
Sexual Violence Service: for women in the Bristol and South Gloucestershire area who have experienced sexual violence at any point in their lives and are struggling with their mental health and isolation as a result.
- duration 1 year
- referral by relevant professional, e.g. Specialist sexual violence worker/counsellor, support worker/key worker
South Gloucestershire Service: for women in South Gloucestershire who are struggling with their mental health and are socially isolated.
- duration 1 year
- referral by relevant professional, e.g. mental health worker, social prescriber, support worker/keyworker
Sovereign Housing Service: for female tenants/staff of Sovereign Housing anywhere in the country who have experienced/are experiencing violence or abuse or are struggling with their mental health
- duration 6 months
- referral by Sovereign staff member only
How to access befriending services
We do not accept self-referrals for our befriending services.
A relevant professional/keyworker can refer you into a befriending service. Please talk to the professional/keyworker who is supporting you and ask them to make the referral for you. Please note that we do not accept referrals from GPs into befriending services.
The professional/keyworker can contact info@womankindbristol.org.uk to enquire about the service to ensure that it is the right kind of support for you.
