Mapping the Gaps
Over the last four months, I have been working as an intern for Befriending
Networks. The internship is run through Third Sector Internships Scotland, which
is an internship scheme for students throughout Scotland run by the Open
University, Queen Margaret University and the SCVO.
As an information intern, I have been working on a project for Befriending
Networks ‘Mapping the Gaps’ of befriending projects in Scotland. The research
has found that there are significant gaps in befriending provision for specific client
groups and that there are disparities in befriending provision between local
authority areas.
Laura Robertson
University of Glasgow
Registered Scottish Charity No. SC023610.
Queensferry Street Lane, Edinburgh, EH2 4PF
Tel: 0131 225 6156 Email: info@befriending.co.uk
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Befriending Services in Scotland by Client Group
Children and Young People - 43
projects (23%)
Older People - 35 projects (18%)
Dementia
Women
Young Carers
LGBT
For all adults
Alcohol/Drugs
BME
Children
Mental Health - 17 projects (9%)
Long-term health condition - 16
projects (8%)
Disabilities: Learning - 16 projects
(8%)
Sensory - 10 projects (5%)
with disabilites
Children and Young
People
Physical Disabilities
Carers - 9 projects (5%)
Homelessness - 8 projects (4%)
Homelessness
Carers
Older People
Sensory
Disabilities: physical - 8 projects
(4%)
Disabilities: Children - 7 projects
(4%)
Alcohol/Drugs - 5 projects (3%)
BME Groups - 4 projects (2%)
For all socially isolated adults - 4
projects (2%)
Young Carers - 3 Projects (2%)
Learning
Disabilities
Long-term
health
Mental Health
Dementia - 3 projects (2%)
Women - 1 projects (1%)
LGBT - 1 project (1%)
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Map of Gaps
Over the last few months, Befriending Networks has been creating a ‘Map of Gaps’ of
befriending projects in Scotland. To do this, a database of befriending projects in Scotland was
created, covering sixteen client groups, through collating data from the member database and
researching online for non-member projects. There are currently 190 befriending projects in
Scotland delivering one to one befriending with regards to the sixteen different client groups
(some of the befriending projects cover more than one client group). With regards to the 32
local authority areas in Scotland, there are 202 befriending services available (this figure is
higher as some of the projects cover more than one local authority area). The majority of the
projects are currently members of Befriending Networks but the online research found that
there are 39 befriending projects in Scotland who are not currently members.
The project has identified significant gaps in provision for specific client groups and also by
local authority area (see table and charts for data). Although there are currently 190
befriending projects in Scotland the distribution of projects is unevenly spread and there is a
lack of projects for specific client groups. The key findings from the research are:
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Older People: While there are thirty five projects for older people – there are no
projects in Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Perth and Kinross, the Borders, Stirling and South
and East Ayrshire.
Dementia: There are only three projects that deliver befriending specifically for older
people with dementia (in Edinburgh, Stirling and Renfrewshire).
Mental Health: There are 17 projects for people with mental health problems but there
are no projects available in 18 of the 32 Local Authority Areas.
Carers and Young Carers: There are only 9 projects specifically for carers and 3 for
young carers.
Children and Young People: Although there are 43 projects for children and young
people – there are no projects in Clackmannanshire, Dunbartonshire, East Ayrshire,
Falkirk, the Highlands, Inverclyde, Moray and North Lanarkshire.
BME Groups: There are only four projects for BME groups.
Physical Disabilities: There are 8 projects for adults with physical disabilities but these
are unevenly covered throughout Scotland with 22 local authority areas having no
services available.
Learning Disabilites: Although there are 16 projects for adults with learning disabilities,
some of these projects are for a specific learning disability and therefore do not provide
a complete service. For example, in Edinburgh, there is one project in the learning
disabilities category but it is specifically for autism. There is no project in 19 of the local
authority areas.
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Children with Disabilites: There are 7 projects specifically for children and young people
with disabilities.
Sensory: There are 10 services for the sensory client group.
Long-term Health Condition - There are only 16 projects for people who suffer from a
long-term specific health condition (7 of which are in Edinburgh). There are no projects
at all in large areas such as Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, Dumfries and Galloway and the
Highlands.
LGBT - There is only one project for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The
project is run by LGBT AGE in Edinburgh and is for people who are over fifty only.
Homelessness - There are very few projects for the homelessness client group; only 8,
which are predominantly in the central belt of Scotland.
Alcohol/Drugs – There are only 5 projects for people with alcohol and/or drugs
problems of which there are none in big cities such as Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
Edinburgh has the most befriending services in Scotland (27 projects delivered and
covering every client group except young carers and alcohol/drugs). Glasgow is second
with 21 projects delivered.
There is no befriending service in East Ayrshire. In the rest of the LA areas, the number
of projects ranges from 1 to 14 with six projects being the average per LA area.
In some cases, the statistics may not present a completely accurate view of the number
of services available for a client group as the service may only be available for a specific
issue. For example:
- Two of the children/young people projects are specifically for families where there
are alcohol/drug issues.
- Five of the children/young people projects are for the family not just the child/young
person.
- The befriending projects for the long-term health category are all for specific longterm health conditions and some are specifically for children and young people.
There are also befriending services provided in areas throughout Scotland by National
Organisations such as Bield (for older people), Home Start (for families) and by Cornerstone (for
people with disabilities). There are also several befriending services available for residents at
older people’s homes throughout Scotland.
Distance befriending services also exist throughout Scotland including telephone befriending
and befriending by email and letter. Telephone befriending has risen over recent years and is a
vital service for in particular for older people and people who live who rural areas. There are an
estimated number of 19 telephone befriending services (some of which are UK national and
some that are delivered locally in Scotland). These services are for a range of client groups; for
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example, RNIB has a telephone befriending service for blind people in Scotland and Befrienders
Highland has a distance befriending service for people with mental health problems in the
Highlands. The telephone befriending services are mainly for older people or people with
disabilities. There is currently no telephone befriending services for younger people.
Befriending services are also available in Scotland through group befriending. A number of
the befriending services researched in this study also run weekly group befriending clubs; for
example, Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland, Befrienders Highland and Larkhall and District
Befriending. There is also a lot of befriending-like support available across Scotland for in which
charities provide one to one support for a range of client groups; for example, Open Door in
Stirling provides a buddy service for people with disabilities and mental health problems who
have become involved in volunteering.
The Current Situation of Befriending Services
As part of the ‘Map of Gaps’ research, member and non-member projects were contacted to
gather important information about the current situation of befriending services in Scotland.
Fifty six of the projects contacted provided current data regarding how many befriending
matches they currently have in place and how many clients are currently on their waiting list.
Although the statistics cannot represent the whole of Scotland, they provide a useful insight
into the current situation of befriending services in Scotland.
There are evidently gaps in befriending service provision in Scotland. There are also high
client waiting lists for many projects. From the information gathered from befriending projects,
the biggest waiting list of clients waiting for a befriender was 180 clients for a befriending
project in the learning disabilities category. Very few befriending projects reported having no
waiting list and the average number of clients on a waiting list was 19 (this average was from
the waiting list stats of 56 projects from a range of client groups). The number of matches
varied between organisations; with bigger befriending projects having as many as 160 matches
and the smallest only two matches. The average number of current matches of the 56 projects
was 25 matches.
The ‘Mapping the Gaps’ research has revealed that there are significant gaps in befriending
provision in Scotland with regards to provision available for individual client groups and also by
local authority area. Information from individual projects has also shown that many projects are
under pressure due to high client waiting lists and cuts in funding. There are other services
available in terms of group befriending and telephone befriending but there is visibly a need for
continued befriending provision and more befriending projects to meet vulnerable and isolated
people living in Scotland.
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This bar graph shows the number of befriending projects by local authority area. For each LA area, a befriending project has been
counted once only even if the project delivers befriending to more than one client group. Some befriending projects cover more than
one local authority area and this has been represented in the bar graph.
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Young
Carers
Children
and Young
People
BME
Disabilities
: physical
Disabilities
: learning
Disabilities
: Children
Sensory
Long-term
health
condition
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
2
1
1
0
1
3
2
2
0
0
0
3
2
2
3
0
5
7
0
0
0
0
2
1
2
1
3
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
2
0
0
4
1
1
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
7
2
2
2
0
1
2
0
1
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
For all
adults
Carers
0
1
0
0
1
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
2
2
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
2
0
Women
Mental
Health
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
0
Alcohol/
Drugs
Dementia
1
1
1
1
0
1
2
2
0
0
1
0
3
1
1
2
0
1
3
2
1
1
3
2
0
0
2
2
0
1
0
1
LGBT
Homelessness
Older
People
Client Groups:
Aberdeen
Aberdeenshire
Angus
Argyll and Bute
Clackmannanshire
Dumfries and Galloway
Dundee
North Ayrshire
South Ayrshire
East Ayrshire
East Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire
Edinburgh
Mid-lothian
East Lothian
West Lothian
Falkirk
Fife
Glasgow
Highlands
Inverclyde
Moray
North Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
Orkney
Perth and Kinross
East Renfrewshire
West Renfrewshire
The Scottish Borders
Shetland
Stirling
Western Isles
Total number of
befriending
services in area:
0
6
0
5
0
4
0
2
0
1
0
7
0
14
0
5
0
3
0
0
0
3
0
2
0
28
0
8
1
10
0
12
0
5
0
14
1
23
0
7
1
7
0
1
0
6
0
6
1
3
0
11
0
5
0
7
0
3
0
2
0
8
1
4
This table shows the number of befriending services for each client group by local authority area. Some befriending projects are for
more than one client group which is represented in this table.
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