Listening is often a great gift you can give someone. You are changing their reality and providing a space for them to gather themselves and become resilient.
Volunteer befrienders come from all walks of life, we have academics, counsellors, affected family members, social workers, teachers retired people. They are all ages and from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
We have 28 befriending volunteer befrienders nationally, who support parents affected by CSE, by listening and being non-judgmental in their approach. The volunteers are fabulous, committed and talented.
Pace befrienders compliment the support that is delivered by the National Parent Support Workers and the Parent Liaison teams. By offering extra emotional / listening support it enables support workers who may need to undertake advocacy on behalf and with parents.
The recruitment process is robust and we have to carefully choose volunteers who have the skill sets for the role.
The impact of child sexual exploitation on a family is devastating and often very isolating. Our befrienders offer parents a space to be heard. Parents are often then able to order thoughts and have the emotional release of sharing distressing information. The value of what the volunteers do and achieve is priceless, sometimes the volunteer is the only person they can share things with.
“There are many strengths in modern society, but one of its weaknesses is the breakdown of many of the old structures and networks that supported people in times of crisis and need. Whenever we lose a strengthening element in society, we need to replace it with alternative systems as quickly as possible. Befriending schemes are a crucial part of this process, because they fill the gap that social erosion has left in the lives of so many vulnerable people.”
Richard Holloway – former Bishop of Edinburgh
Mary Baillie,
Volunteering Manager
Pace is a national charity supporting parents and carers of sexually exploited children or children who may be at risk of sexual exploitation. We provide a range of services for parents including the volunteer befriending scheme.
Find out more about becoming a Volunteer Befriender
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