Right-hand gran: a story of love and connection

Older people isolated from family during the pandemic; kids craving a grandparent’s attention. Why not bring them together?

It was a long, tentative post on a Facebook community page. A woman raising children in Sydney, worried about the lack of older people in their lives (her family were overseas), asking if there were any seniors out there who might like to connect. Soon the post was filled with comments from others in a similar position. With no grandparents living nearby, no great aunts and uncles to call on, they felt their children were missing out on the love and wisdom, stories and experiences that older people bring. At the other end of the spectrum, how many seniors desperately want some young people in their lives?

As journalist Fiona Harari found, some of these connections between old and young strangers happen organically but there’s also an online service, a bit like a dating site, to find a perfect match.