Our elderly community is currently more isolated than ever before. In most nursing homes and assisted living communities, the residents aren’t allowed to have any visitors, they’re not allowed to congregate in groups among themselves, and they can’t go outside at any time.

Even though all these measures are being taken for good reasons, it’s no doubt been a depressing time for many in our elderly community who are living away from their families.

One nursing home company in the U.K. is determined to fight off these sad times by keeping spirits high. CHD Living recently introduced “Adopt a Grandparent” to their 13 location near London. The campaign was designed to let people around the world “adopt” CHD's residents in an effort to foster companionship and help them stay mentally stimulated. Any English-speaker from around the world can virtually volunteer for regular video calls with their assigned “grandparents”, which are assigned between volunteers and residents based on mutual interests.

This campaign is sort of piggy backing off something the nursing home did last year, where they asked people from the community to spend time with their residents in person, something they knew couldn’t happen this year because of social distancing rules.

This year, each one of the 13 homes will be receiving a Facebook Portal TV to facilitate the virtual hangouts, and employees will be there to assist the residents. CHD Living is encouraging everyone, especially children while schools are closed, to send in drawings, letters, and poetry for the residents

According to nursing home company, they’ve already seen a spike in interested applicants, but are always looking for more people to sign up.

If you’re interested in volunteering can apply via a form on the CHD website. This could be the perfect distraction for you and their residents!

If you’re looking for more positivity, try checking out our uplifting coronavirus stories post. For more daily feel good stories, make sure to subscribe.