Combating Loneliness | We’re on the Hunt for Grandparents to Adopt Our Volunteers!
GRANDPARENTS WANTED!
At Adopt a Grandparent, our sole purpose is combating loneliness.
We have the volunteers… Now, all we need is the grandparents to match them with!
Combating Loneliness: Our Wanted Campaign
At Adopt a Grandparent, we’re on a mission to combat loneliness, and our intergenerational 'Adoption' programme has already secured the support of nearly 100,000 volunteers.
However, the outpouring of volunteer support currently far exceeds the number of ‘grandparents’ we have on board. So, we’re launching a campaign to balance the books. We’re hoping to encourage care homes to sign up to our incredible initiative, and reduce feelings of loneliness among their residents.
When is the Campaign Starting?
Launching on October 1st, the ‘Wanted’ campaign will coincide with National Grandparents Day in the UK, and the UN’s International Day of Older Persons.
The aim is to shine a spotlight on our existing volunteers, in a bid to find them ‘grandparents’ to ‘adopt’.
There are a wide range of reasons for joining the scheme, including:
Personal loneliness;
Missing their own grandparents;
Wanting to help others;
Feeling strongly about combating loneliness in the wider community.
By outlining the depth of personalities and backgrounds among our volunteers, we’re highlighting just some of the incredible individuals who are eager to make a difference in the lives of those who live in care homes, retirement homes, or are in receipt of homecare.
Combating Loneliness: Our Current Volunteers
Amongst the volunteers looking to be paired are some well known faces, including Hollywood actor Ruby Rose, and UK media personality, Jess Impiazzi.
As well as these, we also have a doctor, finance director, electrician, nurse, lawyer and more — with ages stretching from those in their teens to their fifties.
Our initiative is designed to show that no matter your background, career, hobbies or interests, someone within the database will have the lived experience to match — providing the platform from which to forge a meaningful bond.
What Our Founder Has to Say
Shaleeza Hasham, our founder at Adopt a Grandparent, said:
“The response to our call for volunteers to adopt ‘grandparents’ was absolutely incredible and enormously heartwarming.
“Now, though, we’re seeing a shift where we’ve considerably more younger volunteers than we do grandparents. We’d love to help build more intergenerational friendships – so we’re putting out a call for interested older parties to sign up too.
“As you can imagine, with almost 100,000 volunteers already on board the breadth of life experience is vast – and it means any prospective grandparent who shows an interest can be matched up with someone with similar interests, helping to forge those vital bonds.”
Combating Loneliness: Jess Impiazzi and Ruby Rose
Speaking of her reasons behind joining our scheme, volunteer and media personality, Jess Impiazzi, said:
“The older generations hold so much wisdom. I was extremely close to my grandparents who have all passed away and I miss them dearly.”
Jess’s involvement in Adopt a Grandparent comes following a period which saw her father receive palliative care at CHD Living’s Brownscombe Lodge — a home that’s heavily invested in the scheme.
Her desire to volunteer is deeply rooted in her passion for connecting with others and making a positive impact, understanding the importance of human connection and empathy.
Hollywood actor and model, Ruby Rose, a long-term supporter of our charity, who formed a strong bond with care resident Iris in 2020 and is now looking for a new ‘grandparent’, said:
“My initial inspiration to join the Adopt a Grandparent programme came years before I found the organisation.
“Growing up in a church choir, we regularly volunteered at elderly homes, singing for them, playing board games: it was a joy. At 15, my first job was for the local pharmacy, delivering medication to the elderly on my bicycle. I’ve always cared deeply about our older community.
“Early on in the pandemic, a friend of mine shared her experience with AAG and I knew, instantly, that I had to reach out and help in any way I could. What I didn’t know at the time was how long the pandemic would last, how meaningful my weekly video calls with Iris, my adopted grandma, would become, and how healing the whole process would be.”
Find out more about the ten volunteers being showcased as part of the drive.
About Adopt a Grandparent
Established as a way of combating loneliness among care home residents during the lockdown restrictions of the pandemic, we’ve since expanded to focus on enabling and supporting intergenerational relationships for all reasons.
We’ve developed an app to streamline and speed up the pairing process – with participants able to facilitate pairings through it.
The importance of the initiative is underlined by statistics that show half a million older people go at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all.
And, using longitudinal studies on loneliness in the UK from the past 70 years, Professor Christina Victor, a professor of gerontology and public health, has shown that the percentage of older people experiencing chronic loneliness has remained broadly static since the 1940s; with 6-13% of people over the age of 65 reporting they feel lonely ‘all or most of the time’.
Shaleeza said:
“Loneliness is something that can affect us all, at any age. The magic of Adopt a Grandparent is that generations can all support each other.
“Not all of our volunteers are lonely, some are just excited to expand their social circle, and the positive benefits of making new friends and sharing in a wealth of unique life experiences can be felt by all, no matter why they sign up.
“But, there is something so rewarding about knowing we are doing something positive for those in the UK who may feel lonely, whether old or young.
“If you know someone who you think would benefit from the scheme, please put them forward — we’re eager to do all we can to alleviate loneliness — no matter where it’s found.”
If you’ve been inspired by our campaign, head to our website to register your care home.
Alternatively, why not read our previous blog to find out about our newest ambassador?
