Policy

And the winner is....

George Birkett ‚ 75‚ from Carnforth‚ Lancashire has been crowned the UK’s best grandparent in our 2006 Age Concern Grandparent of the Year Awards.

He was nominated by his grandchildren Thomas and Sarah McNulty‚ 13‚ who thought that their grandad deserved bit of royal treatment for all the love and care he has given them.   

 Read more about Grandparent of the Year awards ceremony.

The finalists

The search for the 2006 Grandparent of the Year began last September‚ we received hundreds of nominations from hopeful grandchildren telling us all about their wonderful grandparents.  From the many worthy entries we had the difficult task of selecting five exceptional finalists. 

Apart from George‚ the other finalists for the Grandparent of the Year Award 2006 were:

• Pat Connolly from Homerton‚ East London
• Barbara J Curtis from Mannamead‚ Plymouth
• Mollie Hyland from Waterloo‚ Huddersfield
• Alan Read from Hoveton‚ Norfolk

See below for more information on each of the finalists.

We hold the Grandparent of the Year Award because grandparents are central to family life and support their grandchildren in many different ways. Grandparent of the Year gives grandchildren the chance to say thank you for all the love and care that they receive from their grandparents.

Grandparents save British families £3.89 billion in childcare costs‚ through taking care of their grandchildren and enabling parents to continue working. A quarter of families‚ 1‚740‚000‚ rely on grandparents for childcare every week

Our research also shows that 75% of British grandparents play an active and clearly defined role in the up bringing of their grandchildren.

Almost 30% of grandparents say that they are friends or confidantes to their grandchildren‚ proving that in a crisis‚ they are often the family members that children turn to for support. And one in five recognise the important part grandparents can play in acting as a tutor or advisor to their kids passing on knowledge of their own lives and upbringing.