East Dunbartonshire Befriending Service

East Dunbartonshire Befriending Service is a registered Scottish charity (SC051503) that supports adults in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland who are affected by loneliness and social isolation. There are 218,000 adults aged 50 years+ in Scotland who reported that they feel lonely all or most of the time. Age Scotland (2023) There are a variety of reasons why someone becomes lonely and/or socially isolated such as; bereavement, illness, disability, estrangement from family or have no family, have relocated or, are even just simply shy. We match our trained volunteers (Befreinders) to befriend individuals through a variety of methods, which includes; telephone befriending, one-2-one in person befriending (in their home or, out in the community), and through our befriending groups and lunch club. In addition to host regular events/day trips and we produce a monthly newsletter - that is posted to all our befriendees and befrienders.Our service is delivered by a small core team of staff members and over 60 volunteers.