How can we find a Granny Sitter?

You could try here
www.care.com/en-gb/profiles/elderly-care
If I was nearer I'd come and do nothing!

I think Age UK may do it also.

Contact WI groups. They have a campaign about combating lonliness. There may be members who could come and be with you mum ..or a local wives group at a church?

Two good ideas there from PECS
Be careful though as with the care of children your Mum is vulnerable.

Yes I agree with the comment from sodapop and think it's a good idea but has to be really well thought out. Was wondering why you are thinking ex nurse if they are going to be doing nothing though . Maybe that's to make you feel better about leaving your mum with a stranger and hoping they are a caring person.
It's a tricky one and I think it it were me I'd either get someone I know personally or an agency with good reputation but still you have to be so careful.

Thank you so much for the ideas. I am sure there is a call for this type of thing and am surprised it doesn't really exist. We could of course pay carers the going rate which we may well have to do. But I would imagine there must be many kind, older ladies who would be glad to do it and also to earn some money. I was thinking of a retired nurse in case Mum fell or something...which would mean they would know what to do. I will ask the WI and AgeUK. Somebody else suggested the Red Cross.

I also would do it for nothing- all I would want is an unlimited amount of coffee!

You could ask trusted neighbours whether they know anyone suitable.

Well carers from an agency are covered by insurance , have some training and are expected to engage with the person being sat with , not just sit staring out the window , and have been vetted for honesty and caring ability . If the designated person is not avaiable the agency sources another person , a Neighbour etc , might be just as reliable but we went with an agency

What a good idea. When MiL came to us we tended to take her out with us and ply her with sweet sherry.

We do however now have a dog sitter in the 15-year old next door.

Does the sitter have to be older? Your parent might really enjoy the company of a young person (properly checked) who will chat, play scrabble, talk about favourite music or locations and google it on utube, maybe bake together etc. Perhaps find someone doing Duke of Edinburgh Gold or a student social worker.

Does the sitter have to be older?

Misunderstood that at first reading FMA55 I was thinking, well if mum is 93 surely anyone one older.....??

Oops ... ambiguous - I just meant not retirement age or whatever!

???

Is Mum religious? If so the local Priest/Minister may know of a suitable parishioner?
I regularly take Holy Communion from our Church to the 'sick and housebound.' We are all police checked etc. and also have to be approved by the Parish Priest.
Through going to two elderly sisters for several years we formed a lovely relationship to the extent that when the older one had to go into residential care (dementia sadly) I was able to support her sister, who was devasted as you can imagine.
Sadly, possibly due to the lack of 'carer adrenolin' (or old age - she was 90) the younger sister died just a few months later. I maintained he visits to the surviving sister and actually sat with her the evening that she died at the age of 99!
I would suggest Age UK who vet their volunteer visitors or the Church (if appropriate) who also vet!

You could try these:

Age UK
Crossroads Care
Home Instead

They all have experienced, trained people for what you need.

How about a teenager/student who needs to earn money? It must be the same as babysitting.
I don't think you need to pay an agency and they're very short staffed and charge about £17 an hour so that's unlikely to work.
When my children were small I always had a teenager to babysit and they were so popular.
Why not put an ad on Gumtree or even in the local newsagents/6th form college.
The students are the ones who need this kind of money (unless of course they have parents who do handouts)especially the A Level ones.

You could try contacting your local carers group as they may have volunteers who could help.

Perhaps you could contact a local college and see if there is someone studying Child Care or something along those lines. If they don't have to do much, they could perhaps do their studying while they're with her.
It's just a case of someone being with her basically and with mobile phones, you would be in contact at all times.
Although, they might not be as easily available with lessons, they do have free afternoons.