Mental Health Services
Our friendships focus on a recovery model, using the REFOCUS model, which helps support our Friends to build confidence and to take greater control of their lives by meeting life goals they have set themselves.
REFOCUS aims to help our Friends to have hope for the future and enables our coordinators and volunteers to work alongside them to grow and live as well as possible, with or without symptoms.
Our services are available for people aged 18+ who live in the Highland region, who are receiving professional support for their mental health from a Doctor, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN), or Mental Health Social Worker, and who feel lonely or isolated.
Eligibility
We can accept referrals for people (Friends) who are:
- aged 18 or over.
- receiving professional support for mental ill health.
- living within the Highland region.
- lonely or isolated, and have limited opportunity or confidence for social contact.
People can choose either Face-to-Face Befriending (Inverness, Nairn, Alness, Invergordon, Dingwall, Caithness, and Skye & Lochalsh) or Distance Befriending (Telephone, Letter, Email, Video Call, or through Gaming), whichever best suits their needs and circumstances.
For Face-to-Face Befriending Friends must be able to independently meet their Befriender in a mutally agreed public place for social activities. Please note, our volunteers are not able to visit people in their own homes, or in care homes.
For more information, and to access our referral forms, please vistit our 'Making a Referral' page.
https://www.befriendershighland.org.uk/making-a-referral
