Hi everyone at Southern Befrienders,
I hope you’re all enjoying the summer and making the most of it, whether you’re one of our amazing volunteers, a scheme user, or just someone in our community who supports what we do to tackle loneliness and social isolation.
I wanted to give you a quick update on what’s happening at SB and what we have in the pipeline for the next few months.
As you might have heard, two out of three of our Dream Team – Olivia and Nick – are heading off to new adventures in education. They’ve both done so much to help SB grow and move forward, and we’re really grateful for that. We wish them all the best in their new jobs!
This does mean that Ellie is bravely holding the fort on her own for now. Please be patient and supportive while she, with help from our volunteers and the Board, keeps things going. It’s a team effort, and we’re all pitching in where we can.
We’re also on the lookout for new team members. You might have seen our ad for a new minibus driver. We’ve had some great applications and hope to have someone on board before mid-September.
We’ll also be advertising for a new Scheme Manager in early September. We’ve reviewed what the job involves, making sure it’s clear what we expect and what’s doable in a part-time role. Fingers crossed this brings in some fantastic candidates!
Once we’ve got a new Scheme Manager, we’ll be looking for a Social Events Co-Ordinator, who can focus on that aspect of our service.
The events calendar you’ll see below takes into account our current staffing situation and will be updated once we’re back to full strength. As always, our main focus is on supporting those who are most isolated, and our one-to-one befriending service is still our top priority. A massive thank you to all our volunteers for making this possible – you’re the heart of SB.
We know there might be questions or worries, so to help with that, we’re holding a coffee morning at 10:00 in the morning of Thursday 3rd September in the Community Room at Reayrt Y Chrink. Some of our directors will be there to chat, answer questions, or just hear your thoughts about what’s next for SB. I hope to see lots of you there!
Take care,
Jonathan Hall
Chair