Befriend a Child
Young People
We want to befriend four children for a year and deliver 100 fun-filled outings to create 300 hours of smiling and countless happy memories.
About this cause
We support school-aged children growing up in troubled and disadvantaged circumstances in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. We match them with trained volunteers who deliver our 1:1 befriending service. The service helps them regain trust in adults, develop resilience so they can better cope with the challenges they face, and have fun so they are able to capture happy childhood memories. We support children with the greatest need who are referred to us by local education and social services. Many experience difficulties such as coping with parental drug and alcohol abuse; social isolation; bereavement and abject poverty and have the greatest risk of exclusion, isolation, bullying and attracting stigma at school. We are the only dedicated befriending service for children in the North East.
How this cause brings people in the community together
We have noted that one of the key benefits of befriending is that the children involved stop being a negative influence in the community. Moreover in June 2017, Deloitte calculated that for every £1 the charity invests in befriending we generate £6.13 of benefit for the local community - over six times greater, so a gift of £7,000 would deliver a value of £42,910.