#776 Adopt a Grandparent (with transcript)

Full transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pnBi3dFkGDQWEj_A0Av_sFINfI-rBKLMEU_t2q4l3Rs/edit?usp=drive_link Extract: Today, we're going to talk about a charity here in the UK, which is called Adopt a Grandparent. Now we all know that loneliness is becoming really common here. And that there's many charities,doing good work. Adopt a Grandparent is probably one of the most visible charities. It basically takes lonely individuals from the UK and it pairs them up with a younger person living somewhere else. The idea is that if you're socially isolated and you live in the UK, You can basically talk to a volunteer around the world. And it's to help foster or to create intergenerational long lasting connections. Now, this is a really great idea but of course my British mind is a little bit suspicious. First of all, what if the younger person starts asking the older person for money? In these days of labels and identifying yourself with a sexuality, I'm not sure exactly how innocent these relationships are going to turn out. But in principle, it's a really good idea. The aim is to alleviate feelings of loneliness, through companionship. Now if it's true that 200, 000 older people haven't had a conversation with anyone in more than a month. Then of course, getting on Zoom and getting on Skype would be a great way to meet people. But for me, I'm thinking I'm not sure because Is there not a fear of some kind of mistrust or betrayal. Or even some kind of extortion, I don't know.  I love the idea though. And I'm sure the charity does everything it can to protect people. Now, it says here that, uh, younger people in the UK can also be matched with older people in the UK. And that doesn't sound right to me. It just doesn't sound right that for example a 24 year old boy is given a 74 year old woman to talk to. According to the article im reading here in this particular case, where a 24 year old from the UK itself has been talking to a 74 year old. Um, they've both had conversations that were meaningful. It says, here the calls they've had has been a great success, bringing both parties joy and companionship. And it goes on to say, that's what this charity is all about.