Social Connection: Befriending, skills-building and socialising

Our Social Connection Project in Brighton and Manchester helps people who have secured more stable housing overcome social barriers and isolation, to prevent a return to homelessness. Members are offered:

• Befriending - befrienders provide emotional/practical support to help clients engage with local activities and build their social network
• Community Activities programme - activities and workshops to support them to build their skills and resilience, and explore creative mediums
• Peer Support Group - a weekly session facilitated by us where members discuss how they are feeling, support each other and connect with people in similar situations

I have high-functioning autism, depression, anxiety and binge-eating disorder. I’ve recently been matched with the amazing Clem and already feel very lucky to have her in my life. To me, having Clem as my befriender means having an empathetic, listening ear, who can use her own experiences to make suggestions on how to improve my situation. We have meaningful conversations that I would be too anxious to have in a group situation, which helps me to offload some of my troubles, better understand the neurotypical world, improve my social skills and realise when I need to be kinder to myself.

Meeting Clem each week gets me out of my challenging accommodation situation and pushes me to get outside when depression doesn’t want me to. Also, for one hour a week I don’t obsess about food. I’ve asked Clem to find me opportunities to move more and try activities and go places that I’d be reluctant to do and go to by myself. The fact that Clem is not paid means she genuinely wants to be there, but her actions show me this anyway and already feel like I can trust her, which is rare for me.