We are a small voluntary organisation operating in Bath and North East Somerset (Chew Valley and Keynsham in particular). We support individuals and their families, who have mental health problems or are experiencing mental distress. Those referred are allocated a befriender who visits or phones on a regular basis at a time to suit both the befriender and the person visited.

In times of increasing mental health problems and an overstretched public sector provision we provide valuable support to people who feel isolated and in need of support. By helping the people we visit to feel more confident some of them are then able to contribute to their own communities.

Those we visit provide us with regular feedback and this includes such comments as, "It is one of the best things that has happened since my years of illness" and "she is a truly amazing person who I am very fond of" and "I don't know where I would have been without my befriender."