Our background
Adopt a Grandparent was founded by Shaleeza Hasham
Having been born and raised on the grounds of her family's care home, Shaleeza started going into work with her mum from the age of 8 weeks - which made for a somewhat unusual, but certainly fun, upbringing. She spent a lot of her time with the residents, keeping them company - and all the while, having the pleasure of 15 adopted grandparents!
In October 2019, Shaleeza wanted to take action to abolish loneliness amongst the older and younger communities. The idea initially focused on inviting local people into care homes, encouraging them to ‘adopt’ a grandparent of their own and make regular visits to spend quality time together.
Shaleeza Hasham, CEO & Founder
In 2020, when Covid-19 reached the UK, the decision was made to create a safe and secure video calling platform instead, connecting lonely care home residents with volunteers who adopted them as their grandparent. This enabled a far greater reach with volunteers registering from all-around the world to be paired with a Grandparent in a UK care home. Distance didn’t matter. The key was that all pairings were matched based on their joint interests, language, or culture.
The Adopt a Grandparent charity successfully continues to operate in this way today.
Volunteer
Just 30 minutes a week can brighten someone’s world
Become a Volunteer
Care Homes
Offer your residents a connection that goes beyond your walls
Register your Care Service
Support Us
Help us to continue to alleviate loneliness by funding friendships that matter
Become a Sponsor
Donate
£4.80 enables a lifeline video call. £250 enables that call for an entire year
Donate to AAGHow you can join our community
It takes a community to make a difference. Whether you have time to share, a care home to register, or financial support to give, there’s a place for you here.
Choose how you’d like to get involved and help us bridge generations, end loneliness, one video call at a time.
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