Volunteer Befriender

For Sanctuary in Chichester

Befriending is one of our core services supporting refugees and asylum seekers across Chichester District and Bognor Regis. You will be part of a small team working together to support each family with their various needs by being a solid, friendly presence in their lives while providing practical help.

We will work with you and around your availability to volunteer to match you with one of our families.

Typical tasks include:

Helping with settling into a new area
General orientation and signing up with local service providers
Bringing your befriendee family to the SiC weekly drop-in or meeting them there
Help with booking appointments and understanding bills
Supporting with state benefits
Providing transport for foodbank and shopping trips.

Come and join our amazing team of Volunteer Befrienders, this can be a challenging yet extremely rewarding role.

Skills

Empathy
Patience
Resilience (personal stories can be difficult to hear)
IT
Google / Apps
Local Knowledge - public transport / foodbanks / other charities / places to visit
Languages
Administration
Car owner/driver

About Sanctuary in Chichester

Sanctuary in Chichester is a largely voluntary organisation growing to meet the needs of the increasing numbers of refugees and asylum seekers living in Chichester or the surrounding areas.
These include those here on the Syrian or Afghan resettlement schemes, refugees on the Homes for Ukrainian Government scheme, and asylum seekers who are being housed in the area by the Home Office. We also support those families who have received their Leave To Remain and continue to live in the area.
We commit to support an individual and/or family towards independence, with the many practical and sometimes emtional challenges that are attached to navigating a new life in an unfamiliar context and culture, and often with limited English.

People are arriving in our area in great need, having lost everything and suffered devastating trauma. We’re committed to welcoming them and helping them to survive before supporting them to integrate, heal and thrive.