Love letters

In the middle of a restless night, Mea Campbell had a light-bulb moment. Thinking of her late, much-loved grandfather, she realised how much the COVID-19 pandemic would have increased his sense of isolation. “There must be so many frail, elderly or disabled people in lockdown, cut off from the ones they love,” she thought. The idea nagged at her and wouldn’t let her go.

“My grandfather became my inspiration,” says the rural lawyer, writer and mother-of-two with a smile. She is speaking with The Weekly from the cosy home she shares with husband Scotty, 36, and their daughters in country NSW.

Mea is explaining the inspiration behind Connected AU, an inspiring grassroots organisation that was born in Dubbo’s lockdown but has expanded well beyond and now increases connection, community and companionship all over Australia.

Mea, 34, brings out a photo of her grandad. Blind and deaf, Colin McDermid