Inter-generational Pen Pals

Michele Jolly CEO – Age UK Lincoln and South Lincolnshire

 “We are passionate about ending loneliness and isolation in older people and bridging the gap through intergenerational work.” To see the effort made by all of the children and the gratitude from our older people receiving the packages is wonderful. We are looking forward to growing the relationship with the school and would like to encourage other schools, colleges and universities to consider how they can incorporate intergenerational work into their studies”

A group of schoolchildren travelled to Lincoln to meet their elderly pen friends

As part of their latest topic, pupils in Year 2 at Little Gonerby Infant School, Grantham, have been discovering what they can learn from fairy tales.

They used the story of Little Red Riding Hood to make links about caring for older people and became pen pals with members from Age UK Lincoln and South Lincolnshire as part of a pen pal project created between the school and the organisation.

The children designed and made care packages, which were hand-delivered by Keira, Kaden and Evie and their teacher Clare Prestidge last week.

The care packages contained items including canvasses that the children had painted, individually designed mugs, prayers, an Easter card and personalised letters for each pen pal recipient.

Little Gonerby headteacher Helen Hilton is hoping that it will be the beginning of a long term friendship with the charity.

She added: “We have done projects with older people in the past and have seen how much the children benefit from talking and interacting with the older generation. Rather than just a one-off event, we wanted to build a long-term relationship with a charity so the children can really understand the work that the charity does and how much they can make an impact.”