Friendship Group

BullyWatch in association with local schools

The Friendship Group takes place once a week after school, and young people aged from between 5-16 take part in activities such as ball games, cooking and skateboarding etc. The aim is to build young people's self esteem, boost their social skills and to make friends. With friendship club you don't have to try and fit in, you can be who you are. From suddenly having no friends, you are in a group of 20 children who all support one another.

The following are examples of activities that you can do as part of a friendship group: Ball Games (Football, Basketball etc.)Cooking e.g. pizzas, cakes etc. Skateboarding, Climbing, Quizzes/Puzzles, Disco's, Exercise e.g. keep fit, dancing etc. Painting/Drawing/Designing/Photography. Watching films with drinks and popcorn! We try and give out certificates to children who do well, and those who make a difference to others, this gives the children a sense of achievement and can make them feel proud
of what they have achieved.

What do I need to start a friendship group? * A Village Hall/School where you can regularly meet. * A Group of between 10-20 children who are being bullied at school and whom you feel would benefit from a friendship group. * It helps to get in touch with local teachers/youth groups who can help with the running of the group, and provide you with children they think would benefit from the group. Costs can be kept low by the range of activities that you chose to do, generally the hire of a hall can cost between £30-50 for an hour, and then between £5-10 depending on the activity you choose to do with the children.

The following are comments that we have received from children who
have taken part in the group:

"I have been coming to friendship club since it was launched. I first became a victim of bullying at infant school, it wasn't very nice at all, it was name calling and pushing. When I came to senior school the bully met up with another person and they were both horrible to me. I was once left with a bleeding nose after being punched in the face. Everyday I knew something was going to happen and that I didn't fit in with anyone in my class. The bullying is not continuous now and I like coming to friendship club.
"Ashley 14"

"The bullying started when I was at junior school. It was name calling and stuff. When I got to senior school it started again, this was name calling and one time I came into a tutorial and when I sat down I realized that someone had put glue on my chair. Everybody found it funny, but it wasn't for me. It's still happening now, sometimes the bullying is really nasty and can be hard to cope with. But since coming to friendship club I have made some new friends." Jenny 12 Our friendship group has improved the lives of the children who attend, it helps them to know they are not alone and that they can make new friends who can help them through the bullying.

The following is one of many positive comments, that we have received from both parents and teachers on how the Friendship Group has helped their children and pupils:

Following a school friendship day during which students were surveyed on bullying and they evaluated the current bullying procedures, we produced a leaflet on bullying for all parents and students. We also incorporated ideas from the students such as having a school bully box, introducing a standard bullying incident report form and starting a friendship club. Julie Oakley ran a session on bullying during the day which led to her starting an in school friendship counselling service on a voluntary basis. We have found this service so valuable that she is now employed by the school for five hours counselling per week.

One of her duties is to co-lead the friendship group. Students are referred to the group following incidents of bullying or simply because they are isolated in some way and need supporting. The group take part in a variety of activities once per week for 11/4 hours. The benefits and successes have been; a support network for students, making new friends, increasing fitness, raising self-esteem, opportunity to talk about problems, peer mentoring, learning to share, increasing tolerance, teamwork and having fun.