I want a family, but I'm an adult. Is it possible?

FattyBettyBoo

How about visiting an old people's home or geriatric ward of a hosiptal? When my Nan was ill there were a couple of ladies that used to pop into the hospital just to chat to the old ladies, do their hair or pop to the shop for them.

When my Nan was moved to a home there were people there who never had visitors. We used to go very day and would often sit in the day room and let other residents join us. The person who own the home asked me if I would continue to pop in with my dog after my Nan died as the old folk love a doggy visitor .. or just a visitor of any sort.

Also, my mum works for an agency as a cleaner for old people. She has a couple of clients and does basic cleaning work, but spends more time chatting than cleaning most days (i.e. the person lets her to put the iron down and make and have a cuppa and a chat). These people really look forward to her coming and she gets paid to do a job too, but normally ends up staying at least an hour longer than she is being paid for

dogstarheaven

there's Home-Start, a govt. scheme to help struggling families with a variety of skills that they can learn from volunteers - cooking, budgeting, organising or just befriending...

http://www.home-start.org.uk/

it may not give you an alt. to not having a family of your own but to offer your expertise/knowledge/support will ensure that these families get the help that they deserve. often these families don't get this from within their own families but if you have a "need" to help then I think this will benefit you and the recipient many-fold.