Befriending creates and maintains social networks that can be protective.
The voluntary nature of the befriending service was an important feature, for it conveyed the notion that the visitor chose to come.
This together with positive event experiences and the befriending intervention provided the best model for remission.
The befriending service that has been studied had 150 volunteers and 150 users.
Furthermore, many core elements of friendship are evident in befriending.
Five of the seven interventions, judged as ineffective, were either befriending or home-visiting schemes.
The effectiveness of home visiting and befriending schemes remains unclear.
Not surprisingly, therefore, very few of the users of the befriending service approached the service provider.
