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This paper argues the case for more mentoring and befriending projects to be set up to support older people with various levels of needs. From reducing social isolation to helping with form filling, the benefits of mentoring and befriending are numerous. An introduction to mentoring and befriending is given, along with some case study examples of projects in action. A look at some of the ways befriending can be used to support older people from a new report by the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation is followed by a look at some recent research, concluding with some implications for practice.

The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness of the many benefits associated with older people accessing befriending services and to increase the quantity that are set up and commissioned.

The paper contains a literature review: it looks into the results of two pilot projects and also features some case studies of befriending projects supporting older people.

Befriending services can be used to support older people: as a personalised form of care for those who may be isolated or lonely; to prevent the onset of dementia; to lead more active lives; and to increase the quality of their lives. Befrienders can help to spot illnesses which can prevent costly health conditions before they progress and help to reduce the burden on the National Health Service (NHS).

The positive research results from two pilot projects are featured in the paper, which both highlight that befriending services should be available for all older people throughout the country, if they so choose.

The research outcomes are positive and back up the argument for the introduction of more befriending services to be available to all older people, particularly those with personal budgets. Befriending services can also lead to cost saving benefits for the NHS through the early intervention and prevention of complicated health issues and through reducing dependency on its resources too.

Befriending services help to improve quality of life and should be more widely available to older people to access its personalised form of support and so should feature in public policy.

This paper highlights the role of befriending to those unsure of its meaning or role. This paper is of value to older people; local and central government; commissioners of health care; and people looking to improve the quality of life for older people.

Befriending is an ‘everyday solution’ (Raynes et al, 2005) based on a tried and tested recipe; take one person who would like some company, add a second person who likes being with other people and has spare time and mix together. The result is something both people can enjoy and benefit from. Here, Kathleen Gillett and Melanie Dixon explain how a new initiative called ‘VitalLinks’ is supporting and promoting befriending for older people and consider how befriending enhances well‐being.

There is increasing interest in befriending services that aim to combat loneliness among older people. The purpose of this paper is to use the Equality Act 2010 as a framework for considering why older people might need these services and why some groups are over and under represented among service users.

Databases, websites and other resources were searched systematically for material on befriending. The final review consisted of 80 items, ranging from research articles, reports, and toolkits.

Individual face to face befriending has been the mainstay of the type of befriending support for older people. The increasing diversity of the older population and reductions in funding has led to adaptations of this model for different groups living in different circumstances.

The resources and time available to conduct the review were limited. It is possible that some relevant material was not identified.

Practitioners working with older people need to know about befriending schemes available in their area and consider the reasons why some groups of older people might be reluctant to use them or require specialist schemes.

Existing research on befriending rarely reports the demographic characteristics of those using the service in detail or considers why some groups of older people might have greater needs for befriending services or be reluctant to use them. The Equality Act 2010 provides a structured framework for considering diversity in access to, and use of, services.

The Research Autism Cygnet Mentoring project was a two-year pilot study, completed in 2016, which aimed to develop, trial and evaluate a mentoring scheme designed with input from autistic people, their families and supporters. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The mentoring scheme involved 12 matched pairs (mentor/mentee) meeting once per week for one hour, over a six-month period. All mentors attended a training day, led by the principles of personal construct theory and an emancipatory research ethos. The project and training involved significant involvement of autistic people in both its design and delivery.

Participants on the autism spectrum found their mentoring experience very helpful in enabling them to progress towards self-identified goals, and mentees felt empowered by the person-centred ethos and the methods employed on the project. However, a number of aspects of the mentoring project have been identified that require further investigation, including: caution over offering mentoring without formal structures, boundary setting, supervision, flexibility and the matching of mentees with mentors.

The project has highlighted the potential benefits of time-limited goal-orientated mentoring and the negligible evidence base underpinning current mentoring practice with adults on the autism spectrum. In order for the project to realise its emancipatory aim, there is a need for a large-scale quantitative study and a health-economics analysis to provide the necessary evidence base for mentoring to be recommended as a cost-effective intervention with clear benefits for individual wellbeing.

University education in developing countries is often restricted to students from privileged backgrounds. However, in Pakistan, access to Higher Education, while competitive, is more broadly based. State universities in particular recruit students from diverse backgrounds. With the aim of introducing peer mentoring as a complementary support for students in Pakistani Universities, a project was undertaken to explore the impact of peer mentoring on the learning culture in universities in Pakistan to see if students involved in peer mentoring can transform learning in the institution and promote skills for lifelong learning and increased social cohesion. The aim of this paper is to investigate introducing peer mentoring in universities in Pakistan.

A social action research framework was designed to introduce structured peer mentoring as a support mechanism for students in two universities in Lahore, Pakistan.

Results demonstrated the beneficial impact of introducing mentoring, not only in improvement in the conventional measures of mentoring schemes – improved results, progression, retention – but also in enhancing peer‐support between the diverse groups within the university.

The possibility is raised that such schemes could provide a lever for social change in Pakistan. Universities could provide a model for change in other institutions in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, the benefits of wider access, and the introduction of peer‐assisted learning, are constrained by a teacher‐centred approach, limiting the development of cross‐society learning networks. Structured peer‐assisted learning for university students was non‐existent before this project. The impact of positive results has been significant, with one university introducing a version for all first year students. A similar scheme was introduced for new teachers in one education authority.

This collaborative project, undertaken in the context of higher education in England, examined students’ motivations for undertaking a voluntary extra‐curricular mentoring role with young people in public care. It also considered students’ perspectives on what they gained from this experience.

The research was undertaken using a qualitative case study approach, with a focus on students undertaking mentoring in addition to their studies. The case study was a community project that drew on student volunteers to mentor children and young people who are looked after by the local authority. Methods included semi‐structured interviews, focus groups, development of individual exemplars, and the use of Web2 technologies, specifically a blog site and vodcasts. Data were collected between September 2010 and May 2011.

Findings reported in this paper demonstrate the reasons students engaged with mentoring looked after children as an extra‐curricular activity and the benefits they gained from this experience. As such, institutions and educators might consider how student engagement in mentoring can be valued and embedded in the wider student experience.

This literature provides evidence of mentoring as an important social and political phenomenon. Whilst much is known about benefits to mentees and, to a lesser degree, for mentors in the mentoring relationship, this research explores the issues in more depth by considering the interface between being a mentor and completing undergraduate or postgraduate level studies. In particular it discusses the potential for mentoring to become embedded within the curriculum to ensure education for sustainable futures.

The purpose of this paper is to explore volunteering opportunities for young adults with criminal records (“young ex-offenders”).

The study was conducted primarily in one London borough. It involved mapping volunteering opportunities for young ex-offenders and conducting in-depth interviews with young ex-offenders and practitioners from volunteer-involving organisations (VIOs) and resettlement organisations.

Several perceived benefits of volunteering for young ex-offenders were identified; particularly in relation to “softer” outcomes such as building confidence, learning new skills and developing a routine. Perceived challenges focused on whether or not organisations were able to provide volunteers with adequate levels of support; concerns about levels of engagement among volunteers and confusion over safeguarding procedures, particularly in relation to the obtaining of Disclosure and Barring Checks.

This paper offers practical insight into the scope of volunteering for young ex-offenders which may be of use to VIOs and resettlement organisations interested in providing such opportunities to young ex-offenders.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of social isolation and the factors that create social isolation for residents of inner-city high-rise apartment communities. We critically examine how the physical environment and perceptions of safety in apartment buildings and the inner-city implicate the quality of interactions between residents and with their neighbourhood community.

The authors used mixed-methods consisting of survey questionnaires supplemented by semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions using stratified random sampling to access predetermined key strata of inner-city high-rise resident population. Using coefficient of correlation we examine the significance of the association between social isolation, age and ethnicity amongst Auckland's inner-city high-rise residents.

The authors found the experience and expression of social isolation consistent across all age groups, with highest correlation between functional social isolation and “being student”, and older adults (60+ years), length of tenure in current apartment and length of time residents have lived in the inner-city.

As a case study, we did not seek in this research to compare the experience and expressions of social isolation in different inner-city contexts, nor of inner-city high-rise residents in New Zealand and other countries, although these will be useful areas to explore in future studies.

This study is a useful starting point to build evidence base for professionals working in health and social care services to develop interventions that will help reduce functional social isolation amongst young adults and older adults in inner-city high-rise apartments. This is particularly important as the inner-city population of older adults grow due to international migration, and sub-national shifts from suburbs to the inner-cities in response to governmental policies of urban consolidation.

By identifying two forms of social isolation, namely functional and structural social isolation, we have extended previous analysis of social isolation and found that “living alone” or structural social isolation did not necessarily lead to functional social isolation. It also touched on the links between functional social isolation and self-efficacy of older adults, particularly those from immigrant backgrounds.

This article aims to reflect on the role of prevention with respect to active ageing and why early action and intervention to promote active ageing at a societal, familial and personal level has potentially become somewhat of a necessity.

The article is the observations of injury prevention and contemporary active ageing initiatives in the UK from a practitioner's perspective.

The potential contribution of prevention towards optimised active ageing has frequently been recognised and supported by studies and programs from around the world. This article supports the theme that prevention can play an important role in promoting active ageing.

The article provides a simple and structured reflection upon the potential role of injury prevention in active ageing and also provides a framework for further analysis and discussion.