Fife Young Carers mark Befriending Week with call for more volunteers to join up

Young carers are children and young people who in some way look after or support someone in their family who has an illness, a disability, or is affected by mental ill-health or substance misuse.

Befriending Week takes place until November 7, and aim to raise awareness of befriending and the impact it has on individuals and communities in helping combat feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Lorraine Simpson, co-ordinator at Fife Young Carers, said: “We are celebrating and recognising the outstanding contribution befriending volunteers make to our organisation and the impact they have on our young carers.

“Our team of volunteers support young carers up to the age of 25, encouraging personal development and helping to improve their confidence.

“Being matched with a befriending volunteer has a significant effect on a young carer as they are able to have time away from their caring role, overcome isolation, have the opportunity to access local events, exciting activities and most of all have fun.”

To enable it to provide a service to more young carers, the charity needs more people to volunteer.

“Befriending offers the volunteer an opportunity to ‘give something back’, learn new skills, improve their CV, gain experience for future employment and be part of a team,” said Lorraine.

"If you are over 18, patient, understanding, have good listening skills and can offer a couple of hours a week, a fortnight or monthly, you can become a volunteer.”

Ccontact Lorraine at: [email protected] or visit: www.fifeyoungcarers.co.uk.

Thank you for reading this article on our free-to-read website. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a subscription to our print newspaper to help fund our trusted, fact-checked journalism.