Who we are

One to One began as The Befriender Scheme in 1998 when the Learning Library was asked by Social Services to set up a befriending scheme for adults with learning disabilities living in the Sedgefield Borough Council area. Using funds provided by the local authority, a co-ordinator was appointed to recruit befrienders and match them up with clients who were referred to the scheme by their Care Managers.

In 2002 The Befriender Scheme became a charity in its own right. The scheme promotes and supports individual choices and preferences and seeks to help adults with learning disabilities broaden their horizons. With their befriender, users are encouraged to explore new interests and to take part in community and social activities which would not otherwise be possible.

The service used to receive local authority funding for a number of clients each year, this was discontinued in March 2014 and it was realised that we needed a major funding stream in order to carry on. It was decided to put an application to the Big Lottery Fund. This was successful and we were awarded £204,000 over 5 years from June 1st 2015. This has been complemented by funding raised from a variety of sources and more recently by self-funded clients.

We now have a further 3 years funding from the National Lottery Community Fund taking us to 2027.