We need your help to combat loneliness amongst the elderly and to sustain our new charity throughout this next year

In March 2020, at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, we (CHD Living) launched a campaign within our care homes called 'Adopt a Grandparent'. Forced to shut our doors to family and friends during the lockdown, we realised that our residents needed companionship more than ever. Adopt a Grandparent sought to create positive connections between residents and members of the outside world, whilst in-person visits were restricted.

We put a call out for virtual volunteers who would be willing to give up some of their time to speak with residents in our homes over a video call.

To take part, volunteers were asked to complete an online form detailing their interests and reasons for wanting to participate. Using this information, pairings with residents were then made based on shared common interests.

The response to our call for volunteers was completely overwhelming and press interest in the programme quickly followed, with Adopt a Grandparent featured in over 1250 news articles across the globe.

To date, we've had over 83,000 kind and caring individuals from all over the world register their interest in Adopt a Grandparent. We've even had Hollywood actors sign up, such as actor Ruby Rose who is now an ambassador for the programme.

However, with only 1000 residents in our care homes, we're a few too many grandparents short! To open the programme up to more people so that we can combat loneliness on an even larger scale, we want to turn ‘Adopt A Grandparent’ into a social, not-for-profit enterprise and register it with the charity commission. We also need to encourage more care homes (and other care providers) to join the scheme and get partners on board.

To do this, we would like to create an app, which will facilitate pairings and video calls between participants whilst ensuring safeguarding procedures are in place and adhered to. Essentially, the app will make the registration, pairing and communication process efficient and accessible to all. That way, everybody who would like to be involved can be.

Having spoken with potential developers, we have been quoted up to £60,000 to create an app that meets these requirements.

Currently, at CHD Living, our resources are dedicated to combatting coronavirus as we take the appropriate measures to ensure both our residents and our staff are kept as safe as possible. So to make this app a reality, and indeed turn ‘Adopt A Grandparent’ into a registered charity, we need to call upon your generosity to help us get it off the ground.

The coronavirus outbreak is impacting people across the world, but hitting the most vulnerable in our societies the hardest. Please, help us to help them by contributing to our fundraiser, as we look to reduce loneliness by connecting those that care.