Hi FredaMayor,
Thank you for your reply, any reply whether for or against is going to be very useful.
In response to your first question; this would be a business, but a Community Interest Company rather than a profit based company. The premise is not too dissimilar to a dating agency and I have already spoken to social services regarding this and will be working closely with them.
The idea for this came about because there are many children who do not have grandparents and many older people who do not have grandchildren.
The relationship between child and grandparent or vice versa is a very special one.
I would agree that society as a whole should support families social relationships and I firmly believe that it takes a village to raise a child. An agency where people can register their interest in finding grandparents/grandchildren in their local area is a way of supporting that.
Is it unethical to offer a chance for people to find like minded people to become a part of their family? I don't think so, but I am sure that like you, there will be others that will question it and having naysayers will be good.
There are some people out there who are very unpleasant and that we wouldn't want within a million miles of our children, but it is also known that there are no more of these unsavoury people today than there were 50, 100 or more years ago - it's just that we are more aware of them. I it also of note that they are very few and far between.
I think most of the people who would be willing to go through an investigative process, would have the right intentions and good motives and would be joining because they want to have a healthy positive relationship with the family that they connect with.
As ShutUpLegs as said, this happens anyway, but some people don't have friendly neighbours and I know my son, whose only living grandparent lives in Australia, is missing something very special that my 3 eldest children were lucky enough to have.
Yes, there are a lot of security and safety measures to put in place, but is this any less safe than letting someone down the street spend time with your children?
Please keep the dialogue going, as long as it continues to be polite and respectful, it is very welcome.
Charlotte