Surrogate grandparents midlands

[Drbeet]

I am a mum to a wonderful 5 year old son. He has only known my parents as grandparents, as my husband's parents died before he was even born.

Sadly, my mother died from a brain tumour in March 2019, just 4 days before my son's 5th birthday. He was her eldest grandchild. Sadly, my father, his only grandfather, lives over 3 hours drive away and is is not in the best health himself.

My sister and brother both have children too, but their respective other half have fit and well parents.

My son has no real local grandparents. If there are any older couples who would love to be a part of a very boisterous, loving, intelligent boy, I would very much like to hear from you. If you could love him as if he were you're own grandchild, it would be magical. We, as parents, are not expecting babysitting duties, just perhaps your time and to spend time playing and reading with him. He loves the outdoors, and would love to show you our home and garden. Please message if you feel you can be a part of a wonderful little boys life.

So sorry to hear about your mum, so recent too

I wonder if Age UK might be able to help put you in contact with some older people nearby who need some companionship. Like a reciprocal thing? I think they have a befriending scheme, iirc

Are your siblings local?
I think a better approach would be to ask them if their in laws would consider including your son in their grandparental role.

Not sure advertising for random strangers is the best idea. Are you going to DBS check them? Get references? How well are YOU going to get to know them before introducing them to your son?

A befriending scheme sounds good, but you need to be involved in offering friendship too.

With the greatest of respect, as I'm sure you're trying to do something good for your son, advertising on the internet for strangers to get involved in your child's life may not be the smartest thing. It seems almost guaranteed to attract people who should never, ever be involved with your child.

I have recently been thinking about this from the opposite side - unfortunately I don't live in the Midlands though.

My 2 children are now in their 40s and neither have children. I know there must be families local to me who have no grandparents and I would love to be able to fulfill that role but there is no model for it.

The only thing I can suggest to you is to get in touch with your local Homestart. Its not quite within their remit but they may be able to help or point you in the direction of someone who can.

Also - the suggestion from a previous poster to contact Age UK. This is not something they would do but if you contact your local Age UK branch, it may be something they do. All the local/regional Age UKs are independent charities and are all different and offer different services.
(I am a manager with my local Age UK)