"My volunteer has shown me how much more there is to life and the world I live in. I feel I am a better, stronger person than I would ever be without her." Marie (15)

bfriends has a two-stage referral procedure: the initial enquiry stage and the referral stage. This is to try to keep to a minimum the time that the young person has to wait to meet their volunteer.

Referral Priorities

• bfriends Edinburgh accepts referrals for young people aged 5-14, living in areas of high social need (see priority areas),
  or who are from black and minority ethnic communities.
   

• For all referrals, young people must be affected by at least one of the following issues: isolation, loss, family difficulties, emotional difficulties, bullying or racism, or require confidence building, language or learning support.

Making an Initial Enquiry

If you have identified a young person who would benefit from the bfriends service, the first step is to make an initial enquiry by phoning the service and speaking to the project development worker for the area where the young person lives.

You will be asked for some information about the young person's circumstances and why you think they need one-to-one support.

We will let you know how long the young person may have to wait before a full referral can be accepted, and will give you an estimated timescale for when we will get in touch. You can contact us at any time for an update.

If the young person's circumstances change and you feel it is no longer suitable for bfriends to become involved, you can withdraw the initial enquiry by contacting the project development worker.

If you are unable to make a full referral (for example, if you no longer have contact with the young person), please identify someone who can take the referral forward, otherwise the young person may lose their place on our waiting list.

Making a Full Referral

When bfriends is ready to accept a full referral, the project development worker will contact you to check if the referral is still appropriate.

If you feel the young person would still benefit from one-to-one support, you will be sent a referral form together with our referral guidelines. The guidelines explain how the bfriends "matching" process works and outlines the responsibilities of referrers.

The bfriends service is completely voluntary, we will only offer support if the young person and their family wants it.

Please note: Such is the demand for our service, bfriends cannot guarantee that all young people on our waiting list will be matched up.

Find out who to contact to make an initial enquiry.