In Partnership with InCommon we were delighted to run our first ever intergenerational workshop in Manchester last month as part of the Empower programme. Children from Prospect House Primary Specialist Support School visited their neighbours at our Extra Care scheme, The Byrons (just a one minute walk away!). The children and residents will be meeting on a fortnightly basis and we’re excited to see these intergenerational friendships develop.
At their first workshop, residents and children got to know each other over a variety of activities. The children started by introducing themselves, sharing various aspects of their lives important to them. This sparked lots of conversations as both the children and residents found similarities in their likes and dislikes – fish and chips proved to be a popular dish across the generations. They also spoke about their pets, which prompted one resident to surprise the children with several pictures of her dog that she had stored in her bag.
After introductions, the group decorated windchimes which would be hung at both the school and at The Byrons. One resident was chuffed to be gifted a wind chime that one of the children had illustrated with a clock, proudly announcing that he would be hanging it up in his flat! A number of these windchimes (and other drawings) were presented to the older residents as gifts at the end of the workshop, all of which were warmly received and greatly appreciated.
Following the workshop, a resident expressed how joyful the session had been and said:
That was lovely, the energy the children brought just makes you smile.
The children and residents are already looking forward to their next visit. With one resident stating:
“I’m so excited for our next session, I can’t believe how quickly the time went!”.
Louise Towers, Independent Living Manager at The Byrons commented:
We are delighted to be working in partnership with Prospect House Primary Specialist Support School to host intergenerational activities at The Byrons as part of our pilot with InCommon. I had the pleasure of hosting the first intergenerational visit and was delighted that it went so well.
The energy that the children brought to our scheme was joyous and I could see little friendships being made just within that short hour.
After the children had waved goodbye all our older guests stayed together in the lounge for tea and cake, and chatted for a long time about what a marvellous time we had all had.
As well as being an absolute pleasure I am sure the project will bring extended social and community benefits to our customers – and we have lots more customers who are keen to get involved in the future.
Robin Anthony, Deputy Headteacher at Prospect House Primary Specialist Support School said:
All the children have loved our first session with residents at The Byrons and it was heart warming to see the natural conversations and similarities that could be shared between the children and residents. We are really excited to foster these relationships and support in some exciting projects over this academic year and beyond!
