The Refinement Club

Now a days most old people are stowed away in retirement homes, where their knowledge and experience aren’t put to use. They’ve been around for a while and could be a valuable resource for us that haven’t been around for that long. So instead of just focusing on giving lonely old people company, as many voluntary organizations do through programs like “Adopt a granny”, we want to focus on making a bridge beween wisdom and youthfulness.

Find a mentor
A web service, not unlike a dating site, that matches senior citizens with younger peers. The value of this contact is that acquired knowledge don’t go unused, but are passed on to younger generations.

How it works
The senior citizen signs up online, and fills out a simple form regarding what interests, expertise and/or profession they can mentor within. This results in a public mentor profile.

Potential protégés can search through the mentor database to find the one/s that meet their criteria, contact their favorites and apply for mentorship.

Profiles
Mentor: Shows current and previous protégés, what they mentor in, interests and expertise, ratings and comments from protégés, mentorship capacity, location

Protégé: Shows current and previous mentors, what they are looking for in a mentor, interests, background and projects

The mentorship web service should enable easy communication online, through audio/chat/video, as well as facilitating real life contact.

By such a service we hope to give people, who are no longer valued by our society, a new purpose. At the same time we want to stimulate to further individual development in those who will form our society in the future.

So what do you think?

Next week at The Refinement Club: Food collaborations