Sussex paralegal joins Hollywood celebrities in drive to find ‘grandparents’ to adopt

Shae Spencer, 24, is a paralegal for law firm Irwin Mitchell, which has offices on Station Way in Crawley, and is a volunteer for Adopt a Grandparent, a charity with a mission to combat loneliness.

Centred on forming intergenerational relationships to alleviate loneliness, the charity has seen almost 100,000 volunteers sign up since launching in 2020.

But with volunteers currently far outweighing the ‘grandparents’ up for adoption, the charity is seeking to redress the balance through a new drive.

And this is where Shae comes in – having been selected as one of nine volunteers the charity is seeking to shine a light on as examples of those who are ready and waiting to be paired.

The October 1 launch of the ‘Wanted' campaign coincides with Grandparents’ Day in the UK and the UN’s International Day of Older Persons – and it looks to showcase the broad mix of personality types and backgrounds to be found amongst potential partnerships, as it invites ‘grandparents’ to come forward.

By outlining the depth of personalities and backgrounds among these volunteers, Adopt a Grandparent hopes to highlight 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 and other care services.

Alongside Shae, the volunteers looking to be paired include some well known faces, including Hollywood actor Ruby Rose and UK media personality, Jess Impiazzi – as well as a doctor, finance director, electrician, nurse, lawyer and more, with ages stretching from those in their teens to their fifties.

The 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 form a meaningful bond, with a specially designed app in place to streamline and speed up the pairing process.

Shae said: “I have so much respect for the older persons community and would love to give back all that they have given to our generation so that we can live freely in the world of today.

“Some people haven’t had a conversation in a long time, and simply wish to interact with another human – as we are all designed to do. Nobody should be robbed of that. And, I’d also like to make a new friend!”

Shaleeza Hasham, Adopt a Grandparent’s founder, said: “The response to our call for volunteers to adopt ‘grandparents’ was absolutely incredible and enormously heart-warming. Now though, we are seeing a shift where we have 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. And whilst we have more and more care homes and their residents joining the scheme, with so many wonderful people waiting to be paired we’re eager for more!

“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.”

Hollywood actor and model, Ruby Rose, a long-term supporter of the 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 retirement homes, singing for them, playing board games: it was a joy.

“At 15 my first job was for the local pharmacy, delivering medication to older persons 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.”

To find out more about the nine volunteers being showcased as part of the drive alongside Shae, please visit: https://www.adoptagrandparent.org.uk/wanted.

Established to tackle loneliness among care home residents during the lockdown restrictions of the pandemic, the Adopt a Grandparent charity has since expanded to focus on enabling and supporting intergenerational relationships for all reasons.

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 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 added: “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.”

For more information about Adopt a Grandparent or to sign up to be ‘adopted’ visit www.adoptagrandparent.org.uk/.