Welcome!
Are you looking to give your time to the younger generation?
Are you a family looking for an additional support network?
It takes a village to raise a family. However, hardly anyone lives in a ‘village’ anymore, and in the bigger centres, that sense of community is now lost. GrandFriends is about bringing the village together. We are the bridge that brings kiwis together from across the generations.
By connecting families with GrandFriends (typically surrogate grandparents) and vice versa, GrandFriends with families - we provide a ‘people’ solution to loneliness and a much-needed additional support network for those with young families.
We match like-minded families and GrandFriends, extending their support networks so they can enjoy the special moments and share the load - all the while combating loneliness.
Whether your age group is in the grandparent, parent, single, or child category, we may be able to help, so please take a look around our website.
Our Founder Jo’s Story
Hi, I’m Jo, I am originally from the UK and have been living in New Zealand since 2003.
Being a single Mum to two kiwi kids, and with none of my family based in this hemisphere, was a very lonely and isolating prospect for me. I knew that my kids were missing out on the special relationship with my parents and extended family by us being so far away, and the guilt this brings for me personally is constant.
However, what was most apparent was our lack of having a “village” around us to support us in times of need — having someone there as back-up. What I had always said that I wanted was a NZ-based “Mum”, and I am so very grateful to have found her!. I met “Granny Susan” at my daughter’s daycare. She was there picking up her grandson who is the same age as my daughter, and we talked, and we talked, and we realised that we were kindred spirits. The friendship between her grandson and my daughter and then her granddaughter and my son, grew into regular after school play dates, and the idea that I had had when I had my daughter 10 years ago looked like it was going to come to fruition.
I remember speaking to Susan about my idea of setting up an organisation to link families with grandparents one afternoon after daycare, and that conversation was the real start of both the organisation and becoming fully immersed into Granny Susan’s family, and being well and truly supported under her wings — and that is how Surrogate Grandparents was born!
We rebranded to GrandFriends in 2020 as we were seeing a increasing number of individuals in the 20 - 40’s age group who were coming forward looking to befriend and support others. These people weren’t “Grandparents”, simply awesome, caring people who want to lend a hand. So the name change was a natural progression from there.
