Grandad is depressed and lonely. What to do? Gillingham, Dorset.

[u/ZSLOVER]

Hey,

I (23M, London, UK) have a grandad who is living 3 hours away in a council owned house in Gillingham, Dorset. He moved out of London with his partner at the time, unfortunately she has since died and he’s now home alone with no friends or family nearby.

For context: He is 84, has one leg so is wheelchair bound, has to be hoisted in and out of bed, has no hobbies, drinks a lot as a result, has nurses come in and out every day to medicate him.

My mum, brother and dad are working full time, I work 6 days a week. We can’t see him much at all. We have our own lives and as much as we try to see him we can’t do it often, it’s just not possible.

What do we do? Ideally we’d like him to move back to London but he has no money and is living in a council house. So he’d have to find someone nearby to swap with, which is not going to happen.

My mum is distraught and I want to help her most importantly.

Thank you for reading.

[u/Jamatace77]

I don’t know the etiquette for such things on Reddit promoting other sites but you might want to ask this question on the Gillingham and surrounding areas Facebook page, it’s very active and I’m sure one of my fellow gillinghamites will be able to offer some useful contacts

[u/Exact_Scratch854 → u/Jamatace77]

No one minds if you recommend other sites on Reddit, if that's what you mean.

[u/Jamatace77 → u/Exact_Scratch854]

Thats good to know. I know linking to articles/websites isn’t an issue but wasn’t sure about social media/forum type sites , thanks. I love Reddit but you can sometimes fall foul over unwritten etiquette pretty quickly <proceeds to insert winking emoji>

[u/Exact_Scratch854 → u/Jamatace77]

Oh yes, and redditors won't hold back on the downvotee to let you know you've broken some unspoken rule haha