By Sam Jaques, co-founder of Taletrove
If your family is anything like most, the news never stops. Photos of the grandchildren, a holiday snap, the new kitchen finally finished, a birthday cake that didn’t quite go to plan. It all lands on the family WhatsApp group, and if you’re on it, you see everything as it happens.
But what about Mum and Dad? Plenty of people in their eighties and nineties aren’t on WhatsApp, or never got on with a smartphone, or find the screen too small and the buttons too fiddly. So the family news reaches them in bits and pieces, weeks later, if at all. Nobody means to leave them out. Life simply moves quickly, and the photos stay on everyone’s phones.
That’s the gap Taletrove was created to close. It began with one grandfather who had always loved seeing photos of his children and grandchildren. As his health declined, he could no longer keep up with the family the way he used to, and the everyday moments stopped reaching him. Visits were precious, but they weren’t always easy to arrange, and in between he was left waiting. Taletrove was built so that no parent or grandparent has to wait for a visit to feel part of the family.
The family chat, printed and posted
Taletrove is a printed family newsletter that arrives by post. Mum and Dad don’t need a phone, tablet or computer. There’s nothing for them to download, set up or log in to. It simply comes through the letterbox, ready to be enjoyed with a cup of tea.
For the rest of the family, it fits around what you’re already doing. You, your brothers and sisters, the grandchildren and anyone else you invite send photos, with a few words about what’s happening, to a WhatsApp group, just as you would to each other. There’s no app for anyone to download. At the end of each month, Taletrove turns everything into a proper booklet, with a photo cover and a page for each moment, and posts it straight to their door.
Because everyone can contribute, it doesn’t all fall on one person to keep Mum and Dad up to date. A grandson’s football match, a daughter’s weekend away and a new puppy can all sit side by side, each in the family’s own words.
Made to be read, and read again
Each newsletter is designed to be easy on the eye, with large, clear photos and plenty of space. You can choose the size that suits them, a handy A5 booklet or a larger A4 edition, and a newsletter every month or one every three months.
What happens once it arrives is the best part. Families tell us the newsletter is read on the day it lands, and then again, and again. It sits by the armchair, gets passed around when friends visit and becomes the starting point for the next phone call.
One customer’s dad now has a favourite reply whenever the family tells him their news: “I’ll see that in my newsletter.” Another family’s grandma has been “taking it to her chatty cafe events to show her friends!” And one daughter, whose mum lives in a care home and can no longer manage an iPad, said simply: “She says she can’t stop looking at it.”
Why it matters, especially at Christmas
Staying connected matters at every age, but it can matter most at this time of year. Research for Age UK found that 1 million older people say they feel more isolated at Christmas than at any other time of the year.
A monthly newsletter won’t replace a visit or a phone call, and it isn’t meant to. What it does is keep the thread of family life running in between, so that when you do talk, they already know about the holiday, the new grandchild or the exam results, and can ask all about them.
A Christmas present that lasts all year
If you’re stuck for what to give a parent or grandparent who says they “don’t need anything”, Taletrove makes a thoughtful gift. Rather than sitting in a cupboard, it arrives fresh every month, all year round, and the whole family can share in giving it.
Taletrove is a small, independent UK business, rated 4.9 out of 5 (“Excellent”) from more than 70 reviews on Trustpilot.
Special offer for 50 Plus Magazine readers: get your first month free on any monthly plan with the code 50PLUS.
To find out more or to set one up for someone special, visit www.taletrove.co.uk.