Good Neighbours

Christ Church commits itself to further extend the influence and benefits of the Christian faith within the community of Portsdown and the wider world by its own example and through pro‑active partnerships with other organisations.

We are a group of volunteers who give neighbourly help to residents of the Parish of Portsdown (and surrounding area) who do not have friends or relatives nearby to support them. Our group offers: transport to hospital, GP or other health related appointments; shopping; visiting; sitting for carers; befriending; helping with pets; minor repairs/DIY and small gardening jobs. If there are other things you need help with please ask.

There is no charge for our services but we would be grateful for any donation you may feel able to give to Christ Church Portsdown Good Neighbours to help support the running of this service.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others …..

1 Peter 4:10 

Latest News - September 2011

The Good Neighbours Scheme has celebrated its first year of operation with a party! Many of the clients helped over the last year met with volunteers to enjoy coffee and cake together; they were joined by the Mayor and Mayoress of Havant and the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth and her Consort to help celebrate all that has been achieved in the first year of the scheme. They thanked and congratulated the volunteers who between them responded to 109 requests for assistance over the year.

Although the majority of requests involved helping people to get to appointments, both medical and social, volunteers have provided assistance by befriending, shopping, visiting for a chat, some gardening and D.I.Y. A new client, who is almost completely blind, is benefitting from someone visiting regularly to read to them.

This is a volunteer led scheme – volunteers choose what tasks they feel able to do and indicate when they are available; many of them will testify how much they themselves have benefitted from becoming a volunteer! Because of the initial scale of activity we would welcome more volunteers especially those willing to use their car to help those who have difficulty getting to appointments – a mileage allowance is payable for this work.

If you would like to help in any way or want more information please ring the Good Neighbours Helpline: 07842 367490

News - March 2011

In the first 6 months of operation the scheme is being well received by our community. The Coordinators and Volunteers have dealt with about 50 enquiries. The feedback we are getting is very positive.

Over 60% of the tasks carried out have involved transporting people to mostly health related appointments, a number of people have benefitted from our befriending service, others have been visited and volunteers have done shopping and even laundry on one occasion for someone just arrived home from hospital.

Some volunteers have been busier than others but without the willingness of all, to make themselves available to do whatever they feel they are able, we would not be able to help anyone – this is a volunteer led scheme and because of the initial scale of activity we would now welcome more volunteers. We particularly need people who would feel able to use their car to help those who have difficulty getting to appointments; a mileage allowance can be claimed.

If you would like to help in any way or would like more information please ring the Good Neighbours Helpline: 07842 367490

How does it work ...

To find out more details please contact the service coordinator Tel: 07842 367490. Our services are available 7 days a week between the hours of 8.00am and 8.00pm.

If you have to leave a message on our answer phone we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Once the service coordinator has assessed whether we may be able to help you they will contact a volunteer to arrange for them to visit you at a convenient time. If the coordinator feels that our volunteers may not be able to assist you they will try to refer you to someone else who can.

Befriending Service

Aim: To support people who have become or are in danger of becoming isolated and to help them to remain active in the community.

Background: People may become isolated in the community for a number of reasons generally associated with a change of circumstance and loss of confidence.

	Loss of partner
	Relatives or friends moving away or dying
	Loss of confidence after a period of illness or spell in hospital
	Physical/mental deterioration
	Lack of knowledge about social opportunities

Our Befriending Service
A volunteer will visit the client regularly for about an hour each week for a period of 6 to 8 weeks only. This amount of time should be adequate in order to befriend the client and assess their needs. Ideally the same volunteer will visit for this period but this may not always be practical.

The aim of these visits is to get to know the client such that a suitable referral can be made resulting in the client participating in some kind of social or general interest group in the community thus reducing the risk of any longer term isolation. It may be desirable for the volunteer to accompany a client when they first attend a group activity/event and to follow up at a later date.

The client will be given information by the volunteer to make them aware of the nature and boundaries of the service at an initial visit. It will be important that the client is able to understand and accept this at the start of the befriending service.

Alternative beneficial outcomes might be achieved by setting the client up with a Buddy:

	The client is put in contact with someone else in a similar situation to provide companionship
	Telephone Buddy – if visiting with someone is not practical then just talking to someone in a similar position may prove beneficial
	Arranging Buddy events e.g. lunch or tea in a volunteers house enabling the client to meet others in a similar situation

If after 6-8 weeks the volunteer assesses that longer term befriending may be beneficial e.g. if a person is really housebound or just is not very sociable then this might be done in two ways:

	A different volunteer may carry on visiting
	A telephone befriending service may be offered

Key Information ...

Christ Church Portsdown Good Neighbours

Just call - 07842 367490

All our volunteers are formally enrolled, CRB checked and have taken part in induction training. They will carry with them official identity badges on every visit that they make.

We are one of many Good Neighbour groups operating in the County of Hampshire and are part of the Good Neighbours network. For more information about this contact 023 9289 9671 or go to the official website >here

Good Neighbours Support Service
The Good Neighbours Support Service is sponsored by the Church of England Dioceses of Winchester, Guildford and Portsmouth and supported by Hampshire County Council Adult Services and NHS Hampshire