“My Befriender is amazing. He remembers the story and puts it in context, which I can’t always do myself. He is stoical and grounded, knows when to speak and when to provoke. I sometimes need an alternative voice and he challenges me. It’s better than a friendship, it’s the stable feature of the week. He has enormous skills and quietly gets it and me. He values me, reflects back to me and helps me understand.

“I always look forward to Thursdays and seeing my Befriender. He ‘sweeps the yard for me.’ By that I mean he lets me talk and let it all out, he just listens and with a few words helps me see if I‘m being reasonable, reminds me of the positives but doesn’t push it.

“With regard to the ending of the partnership; it’s like if I’d had a broken leg I would’ve needed a crutch for a bit but not forever and now I feel like I don’t need my Befriender quite so much. He has helped me to build strategies and I feel that the structure of my life is beginning to work again. I have found ‘work arounds’ to help me manage tasks like shopping. I can hold my ground again and see I have choices. I feel less of a victim of happenstance, where before I felt everyone was against me. I feel more in control, I can manage the knockbacks better and have started to believe in myself again.”