Published Date: Jun 2nd, 2023
During National Volunteer’s Week, a number of organisations are coming together to recognise the vital role played by volunteers in tackling violence against women in Fife.
Fife Violence against Women Partnership, along with Fife Women’s Aid (FWA), Fife Rape and Sexual Assault Centre (FRASAC) and Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project (KASP) are highlighting the work done by volunteers across their organisations.
Fife Women’s Aid currently has 10 volunteer befrienders who spend one-to-one time for a few hours a week with a woman who has experienced domestic abuse. Befrienders can be a lifeline, helping people to make connections in their local community, improve their confidence and regain independence after experiencing abuse or trauma.
Claire, a Fife Women’s Aid volunteer, started her befriending journey in early 2022. She said: “I wanted to give something back after one of my close family members had received so much support from FWA. It is an amazing, rewarding and fulfilling volunteer role. The first person I befriended was with me for longer than planned and it was a wonderful 12 months.
“Building up her confidence and providing little practical nudges in the right direction made her realise that she was capable of more than she knew.
“We spent most of our befriending sessions out walking at local parks, along the seafront and going for coffee and cake! Even the thought of a coffee shop at the beginning felt so far away, but we got there and it was so worth it.
“I am so proud of the women we support and watching their confidence grow is by far the most rewarding part of the volunteer befriender role.”
At the Kingdom Abuse Survivors Project (KASP) there are six active volunteer befrienders who meet for an hour a week with people who have experienced childhood sexual abuse.
One of their volunteers said “I have been a befriender with KASP for over a year now and can honestly say it has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. I have met so many lovely people and have gained a range of skills through training and personal experience.
“When I first befriended AB, I felt totally out of my depth and really questioned why we’d been matched together. It took a few meetings for me to start to feel more comfortable and since then our relationship has blossomed.
“My role as a befriender can be summed up by something AB said to me a couple of weeks ago – she said, ‘Thank you for making me feel normal for a couple of hours.’”
Volunteering has a real benefit to those using the services and it’s also a way for volunteers to build their own skills, confidence, and abilities.
The trainee counsellor role gives volunteers the chance to gain experience in counselling, while being supported by a well-established and reputable organisation.
KASP's counselling service includes six qualified volunteer counsellors, with three of them having collectively offered their time for the equivalent of 46 years!. The project had 8 placement counsellors over the last year. Three of them have have completed a hundred hours of the client work they need to complete their training and become counsellors, and they're planning on staying on as volunteers once qualified.
Fife Women’s Aid also support student counsellors to complete their training and currently have four on placement.
FRASAC support 17 active volunteers, comprising of five counselling support volunteers, seven Student Counsellor Volunteers and five Emotional Support Volunteers. Each of these roles provide listening and counselling support to survivors of rape or sexual abuse.
One volunteer, Marta, started her training to become a volunteer in August 2021. She joined the FRASAC team as an emotional support volunteer in January 2022. During her time volunteering she was able to support two clients for 24 sessions. Marta says that volunteering helped her get “more experience, connect with people and be able to see the difference the sessions can make in people’s lives as well as sharing thoughts, skills, knowledge with other volunteers. Overall, I felt amazing to be a part of it”.
In September 2022 Marta finished her volunteering as she was successful in gaining paid employment and joined FRASAC as an advocacy worker.
As Marta found, volunteering can lead on to employment. It can also give volunteers a chance to try out new areas of work.
Liz McKenzie, KASP's befriender coordinator, says that that one of their longer-term volunteer befrienders has had an amazing journey .
Liz said: “At first, our volunteer felt overwhelmed and unsure if she would be able to support her client. However, this has blossomed into a really lovely caring and trusting relationship with both reporting that they have learned so much from each other.
“Our volunteer has grown so much in confidence and has decided that, due to her experience, she wants to study to become a counsellor. This is a path that was totally unexpected her but she’s already completed her COSCA Counselling Skills certificate and is awaiting word about a college course she’s applied for.”
Laura Pearson, co-ordinator of the Fife Violence Against Women Partnership, paid tribute to the volunteers who work across the partnership. She said: “We value their work throughout the year, but Volunteers Week gives us a special chance to stop and thank them for their contribution.
“On behalf of the Fife Violence Against Women Partnership, thank you to each and every volunteer supporting us within Fife. We couldn’t do what we do without you.”
For more information on the volunteering roles visit:
https://fifewomensaid.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/