“‘Being connected with good people is good for my mental health and we have managed to meet in person. She is a wonderful person. I am happy that we have been connected.’”  — J, Connection Friend

Got space in your life for a new friend? Aid Box Community are recruiting Volunteers to join our 'Connections' befriending program.

Are you friendly, passionate about supporting displaced people in Bristol and do you LOVE chatting on the phone?

We are looking for committed, Bristol-based volunteers to join us, to help to alleviate isolation and loneliness by building a friendship.

Come and join our wonderful community, meet like-minded people and connect with a displaced person in Bristol for friendship.

We will connect you with a refugee or person seeking asylum in Bristol, to build a friendship and provide signposting support over the phone throughout a 10 week program with the hope that a friendship will grow beyond the program.

Commitment required from you:

• To be able to commit to ABCs Connections program for a minimum of 10 weeks from late May 2024
• To contacting your friend a minimum of twice a week via phone, what’s app or video call for a chat, to build a friendship and signpost to support services where necessary
• To completing a short online report form weekly or more as required
• To attend weekly ZOOM volunteer 'wellbeing' sessions on Wednesdays at either 1pm or 6.30pm
• To attend our full in-person induction and training program on Saturday 11th May & Saturday 18th May

We welcome and encourage volunteers from diverse backgrounds and with additional languages. Languages that we are in most need of: Kurdish, Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Albanian, Tigrinya, Ukrainian, Russian, Mandarin, and Vietnamese.

Support you will receive:

• Full Training
• Weekly Zoom volunteer wellbeing sessions
• Telephone support when needed

Our Requirements

• A BASIC ONLINE DBS check
• 2 references, 1 professional and 1 character reference.
• Applicants must be Bristol based and over 18 years old.

Interested? If so, we'd LOVE to hear from you!