Young People Are Befriending Lonely Seniors Across the UK by Volunteering as Storytellers

Maddog wrote:There is a similar program that I saw yesterday where the blind can connect with those that can see to "borrow" their eyes.

The internet really is a mixed bag in terms of helping humanity.  I often think its ruining civilization, but then I see stories about how its bringing people together.  

Maddog wrote:Also, I think it's good for folks from different generations to hang out.  Promotes more understanding, like it does when folks from different cultures spend time together,  

Thorin wrote:

Maddog wrote:There is a similar program that I saw yesterday where the blind can connect with those that can see to "borrow" their eyes.

The internet really is a mixed bag in terms of helping humanity.  I often think its ruining civilization, but then I see stories about how its bringing people together.  

Agreed. I feel the same with the internet and then I read stories like this?

https://twitter.com/MuhammadLila/status/1218629431553658881

Its why i have faith in humanity

Maddog wrote:There is a similar program that I saw yesterday where the blind can connect with those that can see to "borrow" their eyes.

The internet really is a mixed bag in terms of helping humanity.  I often think its ruining civilization, but then I see stories about how its bringing people together.  

Thorin wrote:A simple, yet powerful, UK program has been fighting elderly isolation by recruiting young adults as volunteers to read to seniors with vision problems and dementia.

Lorna Burnett has benefited from the program having her vision “restored” by 15-year-old Ailsa, a schoolgirl who was paired with Burnett through the Reading Friends project.

Prior to developing lupus in her 40s, Burnett was a librarian and avid reader who would read “two to three books every week”. After developing the disease, however, Burnett found herself unable to read or watch television for any length of time without her eyes hurting.

Not only has Burnett’s regular reading sessions with Ailsa helped to reconnect her with her passion for literature, they have also built a strong intergenerational friendship between the two ladies.

“I chose a book and she would come along and read it to me,” Burnett told BBC. “But we have only got through two books so far because we end up chatting too much. We have read two historical novels… and get on very well.”

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/volunteers-reading-to-lonely-seniors-across-uk/

More to read on link and a video also

Ben Reilly wrote:

Maddog wrote:There is a similar program that I saw yesterday where the blind can connect with those that can see to "borrow" their eyes.

The internet really is a mixed bag in terms of helping humanity.  I often think its ruining civilization, but then I see stories about how its bringing people together.  

Eddie actually made a post like that one time on Facebook. We have these incredible communications tools at our disposal, but we don't do half the good we could be doing with it.