Dumfries and Galloway Befrienders celebrate 25 years of making a positive difference

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The inspirational impact of a charity’s remarkable volunteers has been praised by the young people whose lives they have helped enrich.Moving stories of the connections made by Dumfries and Galloway Befriending Project (DGBP) have been shared as the organisation marked 25 years of making a positive difference.Since September 1997, the charity has worked with 1,500 eight to 18-year-olds from Gretna to Stranraer, with its specially-trained volunteers spending more than 100,000 hours of quality time with those supported.Their work involved listening, encouraging and having fun with them at a challenging time in their life, for a few hours every week.It is simple but incredibly effective – frequently credited with not just providing someone new to talk to, but with boosting confidence and opening life-improving opportunities.And the audience at DGBP’s anniversary celebrations were touched as some befrienders and volunteers took to the stage to describe the difference their relationships had made.Among them were Dumfries pair Kimberley Tranter and Susan Stewart, who were matched for a time five years ago.They told of how they bonded through a mutual love of food, which became a feature of most activities they enjoyed together.Describing how she became involved in the project, Kimberley said: “I was quite mature for my age and, at that point, I couldn’t quite find the ground for making friends with people of my own age.“I found that I needed to find my own friend group, who might not be the same age as me.“I was 15 at the time and I was scared at first, though – just meeting someone new and trying to socialise.