New service launched by The Leanne Fund

The service has been developed in response to feedback from those who have received support from The Leanne Fund.

The Fund is now recruiting Befrienders to provide this service throughout the Highlands and Islands and Grampian.

Chrisetta Mitchell, Development Manager for The Leanne Fund said: “We are delighted to launch our new Befriending service, ‘Befriending with The Leanne Fund’ offering vital emotional support to individuals, helping them to gain confidence, increase self-esteem and get out and about in their community.

“Our service will match each applicant (Befriendee) with a volunteer Befriender who will visit or meet up weekly for at least 6 months to provide some company and, in some cases, assistance with accessing particular interest groups or sources of support.”

The charity’s Befriending Co-ordinator will match Volunteer Befrienders with Befriendees who have similar interests and will be able to provide the required support.

In addition, the new service will include telephone and Skype Befriending as some individuals with CF may want to talk to others affected by the illness.

The charity operates an open referral system which means that people can self-refer or be referred by family, friends or by their CF Team/health professionals. You may request a referral form by emailing [email protected]

Befriending is a flexible service and can be carried out from Monday to Friday during daytimes or evenings. A meeting might include just having a coffee and a chat, going shopping or going to watch a film.

Volunteer Befrienders are now being recruited across the North of Scotland ie Inverness, Fort William, Aberdeen, Aberdeen-shire, Moray, Western Isles

We’re looking for friendly, positive and upbeat volunteers to join our team.

If you are interested in this exciting new opportunity please contact Chrisetta Mitchell on 01851 or email [email protected] to request an information pack.

No experience is necessary as full training will be provided.

Chrisetta concluded: “We are pleased to be in a position to launch this new initiative which will add a further new service to benefit those affected by Cystic Fibrosis. It is well documented that increased social support reduces depression, increases self-esteem and therefore improves quality of life. We hope our service will be well used and look forward to receiving referrals and enquiries from potential volunteers.”