Friend activity – information for volunteers
Friend, you are needed!
You can get involved in friend activity by taking part in a friend course. You can find courses here.
More than half of Finns have experienced loneliness at some stage of life. Anyone can be left alone. The Red Cross connects volunteer friends with people who long for the presence of another person.
On the friend activity website you can read more about friend activity, its various forms, and the experiences of volunteers and lonely people. Order more information about friend activity directly to your email here.
This is how you can get involved
- Use the event calendar to find the friend course best suited to you and sign up. You can display all upcoming courses and events by filtering the topic to "Ystävätoiminta" on the left-hand side of the page. Go to the event calendar here.
- If you cannot find a suitable friend course in the event calendar, you can sign up as a volunteer through our website. We will contact you and guide you forward. Sign up as a volunteer here.
Everyone who wants to become a friend receives training for their important task. On the friend course you get to familiarise yourself with the activity in more detail, and if you wish, you can choose the form of activity best suited to you only after the course. Welcome!
What is expected of me?
As a friend volunteer, you do not need to do anything other than give your time as much as you want. The most important quality of a volunteer friend is the ability to listen and be present. Spending time together can be having coffee, being outdoors, or some meaningful hobby.
You can think about it together how you want to meet. Through friend activity, bonds are formed across age and cultural boundaries, and spending time together also enriches the life of the volunteer friend.
As a volunteer friend, you can act as:
- a friend to an elderly person
- a friend to a family caregiver household
- a friend to an immigrant
- a friend to a mental health rehabilitant
- a prison visitor
- a friend to a person with a disability
- a friend to a young person
- an online friend
- in a friendship circle
- in recreational activities for the elderly
- a volunteer in a hospital or care home
- an instructor or trainer of volunteers
On these Friend activity pages aimed at volunteers, you will find more information about the diverse friend volunteer activity, as well as news and information about current events.
Do you want a friend? Apply for a friend for yourself HERE.
