Volunteer Glasgow’s Young Persons Befriending Service (YPBS) provides community-based support to 8-18 year olds living in Glasgow, who are dealing with difficult circumstances. The Service creates positive relationships and human connections, which enable access to local activities and events, build resilience and independence and promote mental wellbeing in young people.
YPBS matches young people who are often coping with complex circumstances with adult volunteers.
Volunteers deliver a powerful message because they’re not paid – by consistently choosing to spend time with our children and young people, there is an immediate and enduring positive impact on children’s self-esteem.
HELP US KEEP YPBS GOING!
In seeking the best match between young people and our volunteers, we consider personality, motivations, interests, strengths and travel – always involving the volunteer and young person in the process. Matches enjoy weekly activities like the cinema, sports, going for a walk, arts and crafts – almost anything that fosters a supportive relationship, enabling the young person to develop skills or discover hidden ones, explore hobbies and aspirations, adapt to new social situations, build hopes and plans for the future.
Our Service aims to inspire a young person to trust themselves, embrace new challenges and unlock their full potential.
Carole has been volunteering as a Befriender for the last 15 years: “It has to be one of the greatest things I’ve ever done in my spare time. It’s great fun and very fulfilling. But it’s built on trust, mutual respect and the excellent foundations of training, support and supervision provided by the small staff team. And most importantly, it’s made a massive difference to the children and young people I’ve been matched with.”
James is 18 and his match of two years ended in August. He said, "I have learned how to interact with people, my confidence has grown -
I know this because I never used to talk to people. Having John as my Befriender helped me to talk to my family more."
Our Befriending and Mentoring Services alleviate the isolation and social anxiety that many of our young people feel, and help them build resilience, life skills and cope when faced with challenges.
"I used to get bullied and felt so alone, like I didn't matter. I can tell how I feel to my mentor. She really listens." - Chloe (14)
"I think I am more outgoing towards people, I talk more and know the city better and feel less worried I get lost. My befriender was nice and positive. She always had stories to tell me and got me to talk to her and we had the same interests. I felt safe and happy” – Shannon (13)
Volunteer Glasgow urgently needs support to maintain this Service:
• A donation of £10 will fund one befriending visit/outing.
• A donation of £500 will provide a child and their Befriender/Mentor with a year’s activity costs and ensures the Befriender/Mentor is never out-of-pocket because of their volunteering.
• A donation of £3,500 will provide sufficient funding for a year to support one child.
