Johor Baru Befrienders looking for volunteers

JOHOR BARU: The Befrienders here is hoping to get at least 30 new volunteers this year to field calls to the centre.

Johor Baru Befrienders president Danny Loo said 60% of its existing 60 volunteers are women.

“They have been with us for many years,’’ he said.

Loo said most of them are retirees aged 60 years or above and previously worked as nurses, teachers, human resource managers or senior management staff.

He said besides retirees, there are also working adults aged between 30 and 60 who spend three hours weekly at the association taking calls from those suffering from mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

“It’s always a challenge for us to get volunteers and we are hoping to get at least 30 more new volunteers this year,’’ said Loo, adding that new volunteers will have to undergo a 10-week training.

However, the dropout rate among the trainees is rather high.

“Out of 20 new volunteers attending the training, half will quit halfway through,’’ he said.

On being a volunteer at Befrienders, Loo said the candidate has to have passion and patience. They must not be judgemental or emotional apart from being willing to listen to anonymous callers.

He said on average, they receive 500 calls monthly compared with 800 during the Covid-19 pandemic when many Malaysians were out of jobs and facing difficulties during the health crisis.

Johor Baru Befrienders, said Loo, is also focusing on outreach programmes by setting up booths at government and private hospitals, tertiary institutions and schools here.

He said the association is also looking to raise RM150,000 to build a training room to teach public listening skills and stress management for free.

He said an annual dinner will be held on Aug 4, with a table going for RM1,500 or RM2,000 each.

Johor Baru Befrienders can be reached at 07-267 0707.