00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers, and really
00:06lovely to speak again to Selene. Now, you've come up with a genius idea, which is just
00:11marking its first anniversary, and it's just starting to take off. Explain the idea. It
00:17makes you think, why did no one else think of this before? Because it was so strikingly
00:22good as an idea, isn't it?
00:23Thank you. Yeah, so the idea, it actually originated from my own grandparents, because
00:30they live at the back of our family's garden, not in a, like a shed in an actual lodge.
00:38But yeah, so I was just outside one evening chatting with my dad, because I had a few
00:44different ideas for businesses, but this one really stuck, because I was just reflecting
00:48on, although they don't need, you know, care, they're very independent, they don't need
00:54help or anything like that. Just the proximity of them being so close to us just made me really
01:00realise how little things, whether that be technology help, or whether it be doing the
01:06bedsheets, or my brother's here, so he can drive my nan to church, or little things like
01:11that, even though they don't, you know, necessarily ask for them or need them, we're there to do
01:14them. And it made me realise the huge impact that that could have for people that might
01:20live on their own, might not have a partner still, or also prolong people's time in their
01:25own homes before they then hopefully don't have to go into care, but if they ever did
01:29prolong their time living independently. So yeah, that's where the idea came from.
01:33And the other side of the equation is the fact there are lots of people, perhaps university
01:37students, but just young people generally who are looking for, well, flexible work, aren't they?
01:44Yeah, and also meaningful, because I just graduated from uni the year before. And I know how hard
01:50it is to find, you know, unless it's bar work or hospitality, it's pretty hard to find, you
01:55know, flexible, well paid job. And as well, this is meaningful. And you can also have the
02:01opportunity to learn.
02:02So the essence is you are matching the young people up with the older person, matching based
02:08on interests, and getting a good match. It's kind of not dating out, but it's matching
02:14interests, isn't it? Absolutely.
02:16Exactly, exactly. Matching people on interests, personality, careers, they can have the opportunity
02:21to learn from them as well, both ways. And both generations can learn about each other.
02:27So yeah, it's prolonging independence, isn't it? It's paid work, but it's absolutely not
02:34caring, is it? It's not at all.
02:37So it's not care at all. So my first ever customer, he actually had carers in the morning
02:42and in the evening. But his daughter said, it'd be great, because then the rest of the
02:46day is on his own. So having someone that can do a bit, you know, around the house or help
02:50him write up things on the computer, go out and about, you know, spend really meaningful
02:56time getting to know someone as well. And yeah.
02:59And you're just looking to expand, really, to find the relatives you have, the elderly
03:04people who could benefit from the friendship that you're talking about.
03:10Yeah, yeah.
03:11Principally the Chichester area, but expanding.
03:14Yes. So yeah, exactly. So the closest university when I first launched it was Chichester. So that's
03:20kind of where I started it. So I could, you know, meet everyone in person and really start
03:24it that way. But yeah, the idea is for it to be a kind of a nationwide platform that
03:28people know about and go to, you know, when they're younger. So the young people have to
03:32be between 18 and 30. And then, yeah, help as many people as possible and bridge the generational
03:38gap.
03:39And the name of the company and explain the name of the company.
03:42Yes. So it's AIBO, A-I-B-O. And it stands for buddy in Japanese. So when I was thinking
03:49of the name, I was thinking I wanted it to reflect a culture where intergenerational relationships
03:55in the culture around that is quite strong still. I was looking up Japanese or Korean
04:00and yeah, I typed in buddy and in Japanese it was AIBO. And I was like, oh, I like, I like
04:06the sound of that.
04:06Perfect. So anyone wanting to get involved, what should they do? How should they contact you?
04:11Yes. So if you go to the website, AIBO, A-I-B-O.org.uk, that goes forward to our website. And then
04:19there's an initial kind of form there where you sign up and answer some questions about
04:23your personality and things like that to be matched up with young people.
04:28Then you start doing the matching. Well, it's exciting. Congratulations on coming up with
04:33the idea and on reaching the first anniversary of September.
04:37Thanks so much.
04:38Really good to see you again. Thank you.
04:40Thank you, Phil.
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