Dear LPG,

I suppose that we are all statistics really but I have recently found myself added to a list that I thought would pass me by.  One way or another I have become one of the many retired people living alone.  Even though I do get out and about I find that the evenings are the times when I miss the company of a house mate, but at my age I am not sure that inviting a new person into my home is the way forward. 

When I was young I had a pen pal who lived in Canada, and we school children wrote to each other every month or so.  We told each other what we felt, how we were doing in school, about our social lives and friends.  We even used to criticise them and put the world to rites as we got older.  When I left school and started work we lost touch, but it occurs to me now that it would be nice to have a similar friendship again.   I would like to stress that I am not looking for a new partner and thought it would be nice to talk to someone who it is safe to communicate with.

I have looked on line and found many sites that appear to be aiming to put people of all ages together with a view to partnering them up, but I wondered if any readers know of an organisation or site aiming at securely putting potential pen pals in online touch with each other.

LY, Lee

LPG has found some advice but stresses that we too found it difficult to find agencies that have the aim of putting platonic pen pals together rather than being online dating agencies. 

Please remember that having an online pen pal can be really rewarding but it is important to be safety conscious.  LPG recommends that you choose a pal who is not too local to you and make a point of not, meeting up,  swapping telephone numbers or postal addresses until you are both sure of what you are doing and, if possible, make sure that at least one family member is aware of your pals details. 

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