One Place Befriending
Providing support to Redbridge residents who may be feeling isolated, lonely and cut-off from friends, family and their community.
Mental Health Befriending Scheme
Mental health Befriending aims to support those living with, or affected by poor mental health. We aim to provide specialist support with specialist staff and volunteers who are trained in both Mental health First Aid and the delivery of tailored support in this area.
Our staff and volunteers will provide assessment and triage, as well as using referral documents to establish tailored support – which can last up to a year. Support can either be provided in person, or via telephone. A review of support will be carried out at the end of the first year. An extension can be provided if needed. We work closely with your support network – which may include members of the mental health team, your GP, psychologist, therapists and other professionals to ensure that you receive the right level of care and support.
This service is only available to residents of the London Borough of Redbridge. The person must be in receipt of primary or secondary care. Referrals to the service can be made by a professional within the statutory, voluntary and private mental health organisations. This can also include GP’s and social prescribers.
If you would like to volunteer as a mental health befriender, please take a look at the volunteering section of our website. We can provide placements for level 4 counselling students, people looking to get into mental health and social care or those with lived experience who would like to provide support to their local community.
To make a referral please contact:
Befriending Project
Our befriending project aims to provide support to Redbridge residents who may be feeling isolated, lonely and cut-off from friends, family and their community. We also provide support to those who are housebound – visiting homes and offering companionship. The service is for those who have physical, sensory, hidden or learning disabilities, as well as those who identify with being neurodiverse and having mild dementia.
Our befriending service can provide support in person, as well as distance support via telephone. An assessment will be carried out prior to you being matched with a befriender – to ensure that your needs are met and that you and your befriender have common interests and the best possible support can be provided.
You can self-refer into One Place East’s befriending service. Unlike our mental health befriending – we do not require a formal referral.
Our befrienders are all volunteers, who have lived experience, are friendly, approachable and who want to ‘give something back’ to their community. Therefore, there may be times when we need to place you on a waiting list – until a suitable befriender become available. We will remain in touch with you until this can be arrange and look to provide support and solutions along the way.
We are currently recruiting for Volunteer Befrienders.