Being a Befriender

Befriending

I have been volunteering with Restore for 2-3 years, and have had three befriendees over that period, one from Syria and two from Iran. I wanted to do my bit to make Birmingham a welcoming place for asylum-seekers and refugees, who have all been through horrendous experiences, very often cut off from family and trying in very difficult circumstances to make a new life for themselves in Birmingham.

This situation is full of challenges: emotional, linguistic, cultural. Restore makes a hugely valuable contribution to the process of asylum-seekers and refugees finding their feet, and reducing their loneliness, and it is very rewarding to be part of it as a volunteer.

What is special about Restore is that it is a befriending project. Other bodies provide administrative support and advice for asylum-seekers and refugees, and those things are vital, but Restore is special because it allows for a more informal relationship to develop, which is greatly appreciated by both sides.

Group activities

In addition to the one-to-one befriending, I have enjoyed participating in the regular group outings which Restore organises for befriendees and volunteers. This is another important Restore activity. In addition to sight-seeing they are a great way for volunteers to meet a  range of befriendees, and just as important, for befriendees from different backgrounds to meet each other. And the diversity is impressive – for example, a recent outing included participants from Syria, Sudan, Eritrea, Cameroon, Afghanistan, El Salvador, and this may not be a complete list. Volunteers learn a lot during these outings and evidently befriendees learn a lot from each other also.