Pensioner sets up website to bring together over-55s online

IF you think the internet is just a virtual space where younger people get together, you haven’t been to Jan Rosser’s place yet!

The 61-year-old from Hereford spotted that there was precious little online specifically for the over-55s, aside from a handful of celebrity sites and blogs full of grandparenting tips.

So she set up her own site, OAPSchat, and has found it not only provides plenty useful info for the older set, but has actually helped combat loneliness — the scourge of many OAPs out there.

It stands for Optimistic And Proactive Seniors Chat, and Jan proudly points out: “It seems to have taken off over the last couple of years.

“I put in the privacy policy at the foot that I would prefer people not to discuss religion, politics, race, and not to use bad language or anything that might upset other people.

“And if there is anything people would prefer to say to me in private, they can email me or send a direct message.

“I was lucky to have a friend who is a website designer, and he was kind enough to design this one for me, and it costs me about £200 a year to have the website hosted, and then my internet costs, so it’s not bad.”

Home, News, Lifestyle, Relationships, Health, Finance, Competitions and more feature on Jan’s website, so she pretty much has something for everyone.

Which parts of the site do most of her older visitors head for first, and what topics seem to interest them the most?

“Memories, Pets and Family Issues are some of the parts they go to often,” Jan points out.

“If I am interviewing someone famous, they’ll invariably view that, as well.”

Much-loved singer-songwriter Ralph McTell, and a host of well-known authors such as Sue Moorcroft, are among the many well-known folk Jan has interviewed for the site.

“I’ve spoken to quite a lot of authors, and I have got to know some of them personally now, so they often get large viewing figures,” she says.

“They often share the interview on Twitter or Facebook with their own followers, and that gets more attention.

“People also seem to be very interested in anything to do with pets, or things we used to do or things they remember from years ago.

“For instance, I did something about The Big Freeze, the winter of 1962-63, asking where were you then? It has got a lot of views, and people do like to reminisce.”

Despite some older people’s initial sceptical reactions to the internet, as we live longer and more of us are in danger of spending our latter years feeling lonely, this incredible technology has come along to help us make contact with others just like us, even when they live many miles away.

“When I was looking after my mother towards the end of her life, I found it was quite isolating, being a carer,” Jan points out.

“Having always been interested in reading and writing, and what’s going on in the world, it’s great to have the internet these days.

“And now, people are looking for me, rather than me looking for them, and I’m quite pleased about that!

“I get good feedback from people, and I think the most-important thing about all this is being able to chat with others.

“It might not necessarily be face-to-face, of course, but online is always open, so you can talk any time!”

It’s interesting to see so many people in their 70s, 80s and older taking to the internet like ducks to water.

Getting to grips with your first iPad or PC can seem an uphill struggle initially, but for lonely folk especially, the steep learning curve is worth every minute, once you have a group of online friends.

As Jan points out, one of the ultimate successes would then be to introduce them to each other in real life!

“It can be difficult for some,” she admits, “but I remember a man in his 70s who bought his first iPad last summer and now he wouldn’t be without it.

“He uses it for Facetime to speak to family.

“It used to be a struggle, because he would come off the phone quite tearful, but now he can see them when they speak.

“He was so grateful, because he hadn’t heard of an iPad before.

“Actually, that has changed, too — when I started out, it was only about 5% men who used the site, but now it’s about 30%.”

So would she consider bringing those ladies and gents together, using the site as a kind of OAP dating system?

“If someone was feeling lonely and lived in, say, Nottingham, and I knew someone else who was lonely and living there, it might be worth suggesting that maybe they would like to meet each other for a coffee, and perhaps I could arrange it,” Jan says.

“It’s a difficult one, that, isn’t it? I don’t know if people would want me to do that.

“What I do like, though, is to meet people generally, and it would be nice if we could all get together one day.

“We could take it from there, and have meetings in other parts of the country.”

You can visit Jan’s fantastic website at www.oapschat.co.uk