Buddies

A specific role was created to help trainees feel comfortable in their new team and become accustomed to the office and local area during the first few weeks of their placement.

Mark Whiteford, a former service user trainee, is now a project worker at Thames Reach's Robertson Street hostel

Buddies usually volunteer for this role and are located within the trainee’s team. Trainees were instrumental in the development of this role.

Download the buddy job description from the traineeship resources page.

Lessons learnt

This role has been very significant for some trainees, while others reported that it has not been necessary. We have kept this role but we now inform buddies that some trainees may not need their support.

The buddying system appears to work best for trainees who are in office-based teams, such as floating support, rather than hostels. The rota system in hostels means that trainees are often not on shift at the same time as their buddy. This has meant that it has become more common for colleagues on shift with a trainee to take on the buddy role for that period.