MBF responses to Government documents and sector reports

Transforming the quality of dementia care: Consultation on a national dementia strategy - September 2008

MBF welcomes the introduction of better home care services to meet the needs of people with dementia and their carers and suggests volunteer befriending as a component of a low level personalised support strategy. MBF consulted a range of befriending practitioners who run schemes for people with dementia and their carers; their views have been incorporated as part of this response.

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Baroness Neuberger’s request for feedback and views on volunteering in the criminal justice system - September 2008

Thousands of volunteers work locally to support offender management in prison, through the gate and in the community. The Mentoring and Befriending Foundation has identified that a substantial number of these volunteers will be providing support as mentors or befrienders to offenders in custody and on release as well as to young people at risk of offending.

It is our view that significant investment in volunteer-based mentoring and befriending within the criminal justice system can add value to society, whether it is helping to reduce re-offending or preventing young people from engaging in crime.

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Communities in control: Real people, real power - July 2008

Voluntary mentoring and befriending is cited within the report as a means to enabling citizens to become more active, emphasizing that strong and supportive one to one relationships are at the centre of every successful community.

Peter Collins, Chief Executive of MBF said:

“We welcome the commitment to extending mentoring and befriending to support citizens to become more active or volunteer. I look forward to working with the DCLG and the Prime Minister’s Council on Social Action to develop this work further”.

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Volunteering in Public Services: Health and Social care – March 2008

MBF welcomed Baroness Neuberger’s call for greater use of volunteers in health and social care, in particular pointing out the wide range of applications in the health and social services sector.

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Defra – Towards a Third Sector Strategy – February 2008

In its response to the consultation MBF pointed out that mentoring and befriending have important parts to play in developing sustainable communities, supporting rural life and protecting the environment.

Sourcing information and opinion from a number of projects active in rural communities, MBF argued that robust befriending programmes help to keep rural communities alive whilst formal volunteering programmes help to engage people, of all ages, in their communities.

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Education and Skills Bill – January 2008

Proposals within the Education and Skills Bill to increase the age for compulsory education or training to 18 were welcomed by MBF as mentoring and peer mentoring programmes at all levels have helped to keep young people in education and supported young people during the transition process from secondary into higher or further education.

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REACH Report – August 2007

Proposals for a national role model programme to inspire and give leadership to young black adults and boys, as recommended in the independent REACH report also received the full support of the MBF. It pointed to a number of organisations that have successfully used mentoring and befriending to support young black men and boys by raising their aspirations, attainment and achievement levels.

The MBF warned though that programmes developed must be underpinned by quality standards of provision and be given sufficient funding if they are to make a real difference.

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