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Dear Friends, Hi from all of us at Befriended. We trust this newsletter finds you and your loved ones well. This year has been such a year of change and uncertainty. We have all had to adjust to new ways of living, shopping, socialising and communicating, but through it all there have been glimmers of hope, kindness and community. This is an opportunity for us to update you with some changes that have happened in Befriended this year. Hopefully you will be inspired to continue your involvement and support as we work together to combat loneliness and isolation amongst older people in Mid-Sussex. We are so grateful to have you as part of the Befriended family. Continuing to strengthen and build on our relationships with volunteers, clients and partners is our highest priority as we move forward. If you are not yet a volunteer, client or partner with Befriended we invite you to join us so that...... Together we can make a difference to the lives of others, one smile at a time.
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New Patron We are delighted to announce a new Patron for Befriended. The Rt Revd Ruth Bushyager. Bishop Ruth is The Bishop of Horsham. We look forward to having her input, influence and involvement when possible, in Befriended.
New Trustees Befriended Trustees are such valuable people in the life, development and management of the Charity, so it is always with such joy when new trustees join the team and bring their skills, knowledge, wisdom and experience. We are delighted to welcome these three trustees onto our board: Nick Baldwin David Chewter Janice Gott They will be joining our wonderful current trustee board consisting of: Will Kemp - Chairman
Stuart Millar - Treasurer Gail Millar Lizzie Lamont
Tafrina Styles – Tafrina has faithfully served as a trustee for four years and is stepping down as a trustee this summer. Tafrina will be very much missed on the trustee board as she has a keen eye for detail however she will be staying on as a Befriender.
You can find out more about our trustees on our website. | |
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New Roles Non Executive Director to Chief Executive
The biggest change in the life of Befriended is the appointment of its first employee. Gail Millar is now Chief Executive of Befriended. | | | |
Gail is known to us all as the Founder and Executive Director of Befriended which is a role she has fulfilled on a part-time, voluntary basis since Befriended began in 2016. | |
Gail is currently working 3 days a week in her new role, if there is anything you would like to discuss or have ideas you would like to bring to Befriended please get in touch.
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Gail loves older people and she is a woman who makes things happen so look out for all the exciting things that will be happening in the future.
New Volunteers Befriended would be nothing without its volunteers. Recently we have benefited greatly from the time and skills donated to us by three very special people. Lorraine Gillbard - Data Development Lorraine is a Paediatric Nurse and volunteers for Befriended one day a week. She has spent endless hours gathering essential data to grow and expand the mission of Befriended. Kim Allsopp - Data Management Development Kim works full time, is a single Mum to Annabella and has used her knowledge, experience and spare time to design a bespoke data management system for Befriended, creating a platform on which we can build, develop and grow the charity. Katie Wooding Jones - Office Management Katie works in Event Management and has a passion in life to 'bring people together'. She brings her attention to detail, creative skills and communication expertise to manage our new data processing, create a new website and grow our social media presence.
These are just three new examples of how a variety of different types of volunteering has a huge impact in the work of Befriended.
Margie Fforde aged 77 has been a volunteer for Befriended since it began. Margie not only is a Befriender but is also our bookkeeper. She manages all the day to day expenses, monthly accounts and yearly spreadsheets.
If you have skills that you think Befriended could benefit from and would like to volunteer even just for a few hours a week, it could make all the difference to the impact Befriended has on our community. Check out our website for more information. | |
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We have a new strapline: making a difference to the lives of others, one smile at a time. When out walking a friend’s dog recently it was amazing how many conversations were initiated with a smile, it is like a green light to invite someone to engage with you. At Befriended part of our mission and purpose is to engage and encourage people to start or continue having conversations with one another especially with older people who we may know are living alone and/or lonely and isolated. | | |
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*NEW* Bi Monthly Volunteer Catch Up Please join us online for you to share your news, for us to share Befriended news and for all of us to encourage one another Tuesday 27th July 2pm or 7.30 pm Details on how to join will be emailed to you | | |
Telephone Befriending
We launched Telephone Befriending at the beginning of lockdown having suspended Face to Face Befriending. 16 months on, this has become a vital way of how we continue to connect people together. | |
John really looks forward to his Friday telephone conversation with his Telephone Befriender.
If you would like or you know of someone who would appreciate a call please phone 0300 7727703 to find out more. | | | |
Face to Face Befriending
As national restrictions are lifting, the trustees have been in discussions and have agreed a simple but safe way forward.
If you would like to go back to either visiting your befriendee or you would like to see your befriender please get in contact with us as we would love to enable this to happen both safely and sensitively. One of the team will call or visit to make sure both parties are happy.
Please see our returning to person to person befriending policy below. | |
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Bereavement Sadly, over the past year we have lost a number of our much-loved clients. This is not only sad for their families, and we think of them as they come to terms with their loss, but also for the Befriender's who have built up such a close and meaningful relationship with them.
In 2020 Gail completed her Bereavement counselling Diploma. This has equipped and enabled Gail to lead two online and one face to face bereavement courses.
For all of us who have lost loved ones it is important for our grief to be witnessed. There will be another Bereavement course running in the Autumn. Look out for details on our website or drop us an email at gail@befriended.org
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Chaplaincy Befriended is a Charity based on Christian values, all of our Trustees are people who have a Christian faith. We make it clear that Befriended is not just for people who have a faith, we welcome clients and volunteers to be part of Befriended whether they have a faith or not. However in our experience we have found that many of our referred clients have had a faith in the past either in their childhood or earlier life and so they really appreciate an opportunity to explore that in their later years. Befriended wants to offer our chaplaincy service to those people. We can pray with people, take a simple communion to them in their home, lead a service with a small group or facilitate a bible study/discussion.
If you would like us to come to your home or care home please contact the office and we will make arrangements to come and visit you.
If you would like to be part of the Chaplaincy team please contact gail@befriended.org, we would love to hear from you.
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Dates for your Diary Volunteers Catch Up Tuesday 27th July 2.00pm & 7.30pm See above for more details
Silver Sunday 3rd October 2021
Befriending Week 1st - 7th November
An Evening with Befriended Wednesday 10th November 7-9pm
You are all invited to An Evening with Befriended. We will spend the evening enjoying some refreshments, finding out more about Befriended, meeting the team and welcoming Bishop Ruth as our Patron The evening will also include the commissioning of Gail Millar as Anna Chaplain. Invitations and more details to follow | | |
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I am so happy to be in this new role for Befriended, I hope it will mean that I will have more contact with you all. My general pattern of working is Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but I am available on the phone anytime - 0300 7727703
Volunteers: Thank you so much for all you do, I would love to touch base with you all which is why we've launched our bi-monthly volunteer catch ups. Please join me if you can either in the afternoon or in the evening. If you can join via Zoom then great, otherwise you can phone in and join in the conversation. Clients: You are amazing! Well done for having adapted to so much change this year, you are very very important to us and we can't wait to get back to visiting you in your own home. Partners: We really value all our partnerships and could not have as great an impact without you. Please contact me if you would like more information as to what Befriended is doing in your area or could be doing in your area. Friends of Befriended: Thank you for being our friends! We really appreciate your financial support, prayer support and your ongoing encouragement, we couldn't do it without you!
I'm excited for the time when we can all meet together at our Evening with Befriended on 10th November. Please put it in your diary and I look forward to seeing you there!
Gail | |
"I will come to you with joy and we will encourage one another." Romans 15:32 | |
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