Befrienders for newly arrived refugee families

The team of volunteers plays a key role in supporting the refugee families. We do this by helping families to learn English, familiarising them with Norwich and Norfolk, and helping to engage them with the wider community. With the team’s and your support, they are able to rebuild their lives in Norwich.  

Befrienders  

Befrienders make up the majority of our volunteer team. Befrienders are assigned to a family or an individual, and focus on helping them to become more self-reliant in the UK. The befriender’s role is a diverse one, and can involve a wide variety of tasks such as helping families get to grips with their post (often bills or other formal requests for information); helping them navigate their way around the city; and getting to appointments using public transport. We find that refugee families who have a regular befriender pick up English more quickly due to frequent, purposeful conversation. This normally requires a commitment of two or three hours, once a week or once a fortnight, for at least a year. Each family also has a Development Worker or Social Worker from PfAT, who works with the family following their support plan.  

How We Support Volunteers 

We really appreciate the contribution our volunteers make which ensures the success of the resettlement scheme. In return for your time and commitment, we provide ongoing support to volunteers including the following: 

• Volunteer Connect 

Each month, you will receive an e-newsletter which has updates from Simon and the team about the project. It also covers any new developments, news on events, as well as additional volunteering opportunities or one-off requests for help. 

• Volunteer Forums  

We also hold monthly volunteer forums. This is an opportunity to get together and talk about upcoming events and to network with other volunteers doing similar things. 

• Volunteer Hub 

There is a Volunteer Hub which provides a digital online platform for volunteers to connect with the team, share resources and get the latest news. The Hub also hosts our Contact Form, an essential part of our volunteer programme. We ask volunteers to complete and submit this form after visits so that Development and Social Workers can respond to any issues – usually though, it is simply a matter of letting the team know what has been achieved, and what you are planning to do next. 

Thank you for reading this information – please get in touch if you'd like to join our team!