VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES

BEFRIENDING

New Bridge’s volunteers come from all walks of life and from various ethnic and religious groups. The men and women who undertake this work have a common desire to help people. They offer patience, warmth, empathy, dependability and understanding. They are good listeners and are reasonably mature in their own outlook on life, and are people who themselves have an ability to cope. There are numerous organisations and agencies that facilitate contact between prisoners and members of the public. New Bridge prides itself on being distinct from these other services for three main reasons:-

• New Bridge is not just a pen pal scheme. New Bridge volunteers visit prisoners as well as write to them.
• New Bridge volunteers are attached to the prisoner not the prison, this is what makes New Bridge different from the Prison Visitor System run by Prisons in conjunction with the Chaplaincy. Chaplaincy visitors are attached to a particular prison and when a prisoner moves to another prison - something that happens quite frequently, they lose touch. New Bridge volunteers, by being attached to the prisoner, will stay with them throughout their sentence regardless of what prison they are moved to.
• New Bridge offers ongoing support to our volunteers through the provision of monthly group meetings. So, not only does New Bridge ensure that its volunteers are effectively trained before commencing work with the organisation, it ensures their continued progress through structured support mechanisms.