A Befriending Manifesto for the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary Election
People who feel alone and apart from their communities have little chance of leading fulfilled lives.
Throughout Scotland, there are people of all ages who have become isolated because of ill health, disability or social disadvantage. Befriending offers someone to talk with and to listen to; someone whose role it is to focus on the person rather the problem.
Befriending Network Scotland is calling on all political parties, candidates and voters to invest in Scotland’s future by recognising befriending as a cost-effective, legitimate and necessary way of tackling loneliness and isolation.
Befriending increases the wellbeing of the individual, the community and the nation. We envisage a society which values befriending and recognises its importance — where everyone who needs it has access to high quality befriending support.
“We all need support and friendship, regardless of circumstances. But where do people turn when friends and family are simply no longer there, or can't help us through a difficult time, or need all our care and attention and can't give us any in return? Thank goodness for befriending projects, who help fill the empty spaces where care, support and a listening ear need to be” — Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister of Scotland
THREE THINGS WE WANT TO TELL GOVERNMENT
1. Loneliness and Isolation are Health Risks
Research shows that loneliness and isolation are bad for you. In July 2010, the journal, PLOS Medicine put the degree of mortality risk associated with a lack of social relationships as similar to that which exists for smoking – a far more publicized health risk.
Loneliness is a hidden public health threat that often goes untreated and it is vital that health and social care professionals are alert to the two-way links between poor health and loneliness.
Social relationships are key to health, to wellbeing and to government policy.
• The Strategic Review of Health Inequalities (Marmot Review, 2010) emphasises the need to reduce social isolation as a crucial means toward addressing health disparities, particularly in the most deprived groups
• Befriending is included in the Scottish Government's recent Carers Strategy (2010) and yet 10/16 of Scotland's largest towns and cities do not have a befriending project for carers
If loneliness and isolation are not tackled the social, health and economic costs will be high.
“A fence at the top of the cliff is always better than an ambulance at the bottom”— David Robinson, Community Links
2. Befriending Works
Befriending can reduce the burden on other services which people may use inappropriately as they seek social contact and can lower the risk of people entering the care system too early.
The impact of befriending is significant. Befriending often provides people with a new direction and purpose in life, opens up a range of activities, a better quality of life and leads to increased self-esteem and self confidence.
"One boy was very dependent on being looked after by a parent. He couldn’t do anything on his own but he got into drama through Interest Link Borders* by going to a course with a buddy. This allowed him the confidence to follow up on the sort of things he was interested in. He got a volunteer theatre job helping with lighting and had a part with a local theatre group. He would phone and speak to people and write letters with assistance. He got that voluntary work all by himself, he just needed a start. They all need a beginning where they feel ‘I'm ok I can do this’. ‘Ok-ness’ starts from yourself — even just the belief that someone might want to talk to you. If you have self belief, it’s amazing what you can achieve in life " — Referral agency about Interest Link Borders, a befriending project for people with learning disabilities
3. Befriending is Cost-Effective But Needs Investment
The economic cost of lost lives and people failing to reach their full potential is enormous.
Befriending can prevent problems but it doesn't just happen - it needs investment.
There are fewer and fewer funders out there for befriending and a big increase in the number of grant applications. Increasingly befriending projects receive their referrals from statutory agencies with very few providing sufficient funding for this service.
Befrienders are volunteers, but funding is needed to recruit, manage and support them.
There are 168 befriending projects in Scotland training, matching and supporting thousands of volunteers to help many different groups including older people, carers, children and young people, adults with mental health problems, people with disabilities.
Befriending Network Scotland’s membership database and recent annual survey show that:
- Funding for just under half of the sector in Scotland runs out in 2011
- Only 1 in 1,700 people in Scotland have access to a volunteer befriender amid huge demand
- 0.1% of older people (just under 1000) in Scotland have access to a befriender
- There are just five befriending projects in Scotland working with dementia or their carers
- 0.25% of people with learning disabilities (around 300) in Scotland have access to a befriender
- 4/16 of Scotland’s largest cities/towns do not have any befriending project for children/young people
FIVE THINGS WE WANT GOVERNMENT TO DO
1. Invest in fixing problems caused by loneliness and social isolation: maintain a political and practical commitment to wellbeing (as set out in the Concordat)
2. Tackle negative attitudes towards people who are socially isolated: ensure everyone who needs it has access to befriending support regardless of their age, gender, race, sexuality, geographical location, faith or belief, disability or social background
3. Recognise the different needs of each client group: some might need short-term befriending (for instance, people leaving hospital), others might need a befriender for longer (for instance, people with a long-term health condition)
4. Ensure befriending is discussed in appropriate consultations and help publicise the role befriending plays in every community up and down the land
5. Ensure the befriending sector has access to sustainable funding from a diverse range of sources and make public spending costs more transparent so that befriending projects have real benchmarks to compare themselves with
Find Out More About Befriending
- Click here to read about Scotland'snational befriending body, Befriending Network Scotland
- Click here to find your local project
- Click here to read befriender diaries
Best Regards,
Samantha Rospigliosi
Since the late 1980s, Befriending Network Scotland has worked hard to provide support, training and guidance to hundreds of befriending projects across the country.
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