One night six years ago occupational therapist Nick Maisey received an email from a lonely young man.

"He just simply said that he was looking to meet new people," Mr Maisey told Peter Bell on 720 ABC Perth.

"He had been trying to do that for some time and had found it pretty tough.

"It tugged at my heart."

It was this email that inspired Mr Maisey to create Befriend, a not-for-profit volunteer organisation focused on building a community of inclusion in Perth.

Nick Maisey, founder of Befriend Perth. ( Facebook: Befriend )

"It started with just some easy social gatherings," Mr Maisey recalled.

"A few of my mates and I would put on a barbecue at a local park and just say, 'anybody else who is looking to come along, you are welcome to join us'."

Now Befriend has a database of more than 5,000 people and hosts around 30 social gatherings a month.

The events range from simple picnic and movie meet-ups to dance classes and crafting sessions.

"We really just focus on people coming together around like interests, and the choice is really theirs over what they would like to go along to," Mr Maisey said.

How to meet new people

He said people could commonly find themselves without friendships after they moved cities or after the break-up of an intimate relationship forced changes to their social circle.

"There almost seems to be a bit of stigma around saying, 'hey, I don't actually have that many friends and I am looking to meet new people'," he said.

"When things and circumstances change in your life it's often really important to have easy ways to seek new opportunities to join networks and meet new people."

Participation in Befriend is free, volunteers host each event, and the organisation relies on short-term government grants and donations to cover operating costs.

Mr Maisey said he derived great satisfaction from seeing how the organisation helped people.

"We see people forming genuine friendships and connections, but we don't really know the true value of the experiences that we are creating.

"Every now and then I bump into people in the city who met through Befriend and that's really special."