Queensferry Care Befriending Service

Brief description:

SERVICES ARE CURRENTLY OPERATING BUT DUE TO COVID MAY NOT BE OPERATING IN THE SAME WAY. PLEASE CONTACT US TO CHECK. We provide a befriending service staffed by volunteers who visit people in their own homes. Meetings normally take place on a weekly or fortnightly basis at a mutually agreed time. Meetings are purely for social purposes we do not carry out any personal care tasks or household tasks. The meetings usually last between 1.5 - 2 hours per visit.

Organisation name:

Queensferry Churches' Care in the Community

Type of break:

Befriending

Care needs catered for:

Dementia, Hearing Impairment, Infirm and Elderly, Learning Disability, Medical Condition, Mental Health, Physical Disability, Visual Impairment

Ages catered for:

Older Adults

How do people access your service:

Referral to our befriending service is via our application process and people can self refer to this service either by requesting an application by phone or downloading a service application form on our website. We only cover North West Rural Edinburgh which includes South Queensferry, Dalmeny, Kirkliston. Newbridge, Ratho Station and Village.

Type of accommodation:

This service is delivered to people in their own homes by volunteers. All volunteers have enhanced disclosures carried out prior to matching or are members of the PVG scheme.

Cultural needs catered for:

N/A home visiting service

Full service description:

This service is staffed by trained volunteers who provide social support and stimulation as well as providing an older person with a link back into their own communities. Volunteers do not carry out personal care tasks or household tasks. Volunteers can on occasion do "one off" things for example shopping for essentials for the person but cannot commit to this on a regular/longer term basis. This also has to be mutually agreed and sanctioned by the volunteer coordinator. We cannot commit to regular shopping trips etc due to the service being free and there is no cover if for example a volunteer is off sick or on holiday. On these occasions the coordinator is made aware and will speak to the befriendee by telephone and will keep them informed until visits re-start. Volunteers are supported throughout their match by the volunteer coordinator and the coordinator is the first point of contact for the service user if there are any problems/issues. Reviews of the match are carried out at regular intervals (more frequently at the beginning, progressing to 6 monthly as agreed and appropriate). If the volunteer has a car the visits can include outings but risk assessments would require to be carried out for this as well as car insurance checks. The same would be applicable regarding risk assessments if the person wanted to go out using local transport (some people may have lost confidence following illness or a fall, but maybe could, with the assistance of the volunteer, build this up again by going out with their support).

Price information:

There is no charge for this service and we also cover local travel expenses for our volunteers but if, for example, the person wants to go to a particular place and the volunteer agrees to accompany them, we would expect the client to pay for any extra expense incurred by the volunteer.

Organisation providing this information:

Queensferry Care

Quality Assurance Accreditation:

OSCR, Investing in Volunteers, Care Inspectorate

Visual Impairment:

Staff training e.g. Visual Awareness or Sighted Guide training

Dementia Adaptations:

Staff training

Hearing Impairment Adaptations:

Staff training

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