The story behind Enid

Hi, I'm Andy.

That's my gran, Madge, beside me.

She was the one everyone turned to. A bit of advice over a cup of tea, a careful word when a friend was worried, the right question asked at just the right moment. And she never once made you feel daft for asking. Most of what Enid feels like comes from her.

Enid isn't meant to replace a person. I simply wanted to keep a little of Madge's kindness and good sense alive, and give the people I love someone to turn to whenever they needed it.

Because growing older isn't usually about one big thing. It's all the small ones. An appointment that slips your mind. A message that doesn't sit right. An afternoon that's gone a bit too quiet. Every one of them is easier when you've someone to ask. And not everyone does.

Mostly that means good company. Someone to talk to on a wet Tuesday, a hand with the form that's clearly written for somebody else, a quiet reminder about the thing you'd otherwise forget. And someone who never minds being asked twice.

Most of the time, those little moments are simply part of life. Sometimes, though, they're something more serious.

And then there are the scams. I've watched sharp, capable people get caught out by scams, not because they weren't careful, but because the messages looked completely genuine. They look like your bank, a parcel you're waiting on, a voice you know. So when something lands that doesn't seem right, Enid is a second pair of eyes: a straight answer on whether it's a scam, and a clear idea of what to do next.

“It's far easier to keep someone a step ahead than to help them pick up the pieces afterwards.”

Madge also liked to keep her mind busy, the way a lot of her generation did. Quizzes, crosswords, board games, and sharp as anything at all of them. A few of Enid's games come straight from the ones she loved, there for the same reason she played them. Good fun, a bit of a challenge, and a fine excuse to keep ticking over.

I hope she'd recognise a little of herself in Enid. Someone in your corner, on the big things and the small ones. If Enid does even a little of what Madge did so naturally, then it's been worth building.

Thanks for being here.

Andy