Befrienders Worldwide Network - Bloemfontein (Brandwag)

What Befrienders Is

Befrienders Worldwide is an international network of volunteer-run emotional support centres, founded in London in 1953 under the name Samaritans, and subsequently becoming the global Befrienders model. Centres now operate in 30+ countries. What holds the network together is a shared methodology: trained volunteers who listen, really listen, without judgment, without advice, without trying to fix — and without ending the call.

The model is deceptively simple and extraordinarily effective. For someone who has never been heard — whose experience has been minimised, denied, or weaponised against them — being heard without agenda is transformative.

Who Befrienders Serves

Befrienders serves anyone experiencing: - Suicidal thoughts or ideation - Emotional distress and crisis - Depression, anxiety, or despair - Isolation, loneliness, or hopelessness - The aftermath of bereavement by suicide - Any form of emotional pain, whether or not it seems "serious enough"

Callers do not need to be at imminent risk. Long-term support is available, including for people bereaved by suicide — a group that is at elevated suicide risk themselves. Relationships under threat, problems with drugs or alcohol, fear related to HIV/AIDS — Befrienders will listen to all of these.

South African Centres

Befrienders Bloemfontein is the primary SA centre and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week by phone (0027 51 444 5000). Face-to-face meetings are available by appointment, arranged by phone or email. The centre is located at 18 Klerck Avenue, Brandwag, Bloemfontein, PO Box 29874, Danhof, 9310. Languages: Afrikaans and English.

South Africa's additional Befrienders centres — in Botshabelo, Setshabelo (both Free State), Kwa Nobuhle and Uitenhage (both Eastern Cape), Mitchell's Plain (Western Cape), and Umkomaas (KZN) — bring the Befrienders model directly into township communities. For current contact details for each centre, use the global directory at befrienders.org/find-support-now, or the South African site befrienders.co.za.

Confidentiality and Non-Directiveness

A caller to Befrienders will never be told what to do, never have their choices judged, and never have their conversation reported to any authority. This radical non-directiveness is not a limitation — it is the foundation of Befrienders' effectiveness. It creates a space in which people can speak with complete honesty, without fear of consequence, and in which the act of speaking is itself part of the process of recovery.

Relevance to GBV Survivors

For a survivor-facing website, Befrienders is a resource that belongs in the mental health and crisis support section — distinctly from GBV shelters and hotlines, but no less important. It should be surfaced specifically for survivors who are: experiencing suicidal thoughts; in a period of emotional crisis between accessing other services; isolated and need someone to talk to; not ready to call a GBV-specific service but desperately in need of human connection; or bereaved through violence. Befrienders should be listed alongside SADAG (0800 567 567) and LifeLine (0861 322 322) as a key emotional support resource, with the GBV Command Centre (0800 428 428) prominently cross-referenced for survivors who also need safety planning or shelter.

Befrienders Bloemfontein (primary SA centre): 0027 51 444 5000 (24/7). Email: befrienders@imaginet.co.za. Address: 18 Klerck Avenue, Brandwag, Bloemfontein. South Africa website: befrienders.co.za. International: befrienders.org. Seven centres across SA: Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, Setshabelo (FS), Kwa Nobuhle, Uitenhage (EC), Mitchell's Plain (WC), Umkomaas (KZN).