GENERATION AIM
them.” For older kids, chatting with their grand-friends boosts language skills. Sue says: “One girl came from abroad with very little English. After a few weeks, she was pretty much bilingual and teaching her parents.”
A packed schedule brings young and old together, including in choir sessions and at a gardening club. A beautiful chorus of Que Sera, Sera filling the corridors is followed by the children teaching the care home residents the actions to Ram Sam Sam. Friends grow herbs, used in cookery lessons. Each afternoon, everyone is invited on a “pramble” – a gentle walk, or push, along the nearby canal.
But the kids’ curriculum is flexible, so residents can lead learning. One day, the chat will be about birds, on another an elderly lady may teach children to make shortbread.
Sue says a resident who loved fixing things wanted to share that. “We
WHEN ex-primary school teacher June Davis, 83, became Belong’s first resident she was in a wheelchair after a fall and had dementia and Parkinson’s.
Daughters Paula Sindall and Diane Stearne did not expect to see her walk again. Diane says: “Mum has always loved being surrounded by children.
“She started going for trips in her chair with the children, who go along in a thought, ‘Can we really give a power tool to a toddler – or a 90-year-old?’ Then we thought, ‘Why not?’ It has been brilliant for them all.”
Belong Chester is a not-for-profit venture but is not cheap. An apartment begins at £1,530 a week and nursery places are £63 a day. But its informality is a big draw. Uniforms are out, so staff and visitors look similar.
Doreen, 87, is enjoying lunch with two-year-old Odin. She says: “I love
pram. Mum was determined to push the pram and can now walk unaided quite well. She’d never have done that without the motivation of the children.
“At Halloween, the children came to her door trick or treating. She read them all a spooky story. They were transfixed.
“The children help unlock these precious moments where mum is just mum again. This place is very special.” living here. The happiest time of my life was when my children were young. My grandchildren are all over the country. Here, I relive my happiest moments. It’s so precious.”
Belong is good for the older people’s physical health, too. They are encouraged to join the kids’ weekly “dough disco”, a Play-doh based dance class.
Belong chief operating officer Sue Goldsmith says: “They often don’t appreciate rehabilitation exercises.
But give them Play-doh with the kids and they spend hours playing with them, strengthening their muscles.”
But what happens when a grandfriend dies? Liz says: “We work with Child Bereavement UK but children deserve to understand the cycle of life.
“They notice the physical and mental deterioration and sometimes they die. It’s been more difficult for the older people coping with the children leaving for school. They miss them – although lots come back to visit.”
The Belong Chester team now want their model rolled out.
Liz says: “Why stop at nurseries? I’d love to see care homes integrated with schools, universities even.
“Imagine the change we’d see in society if we all just spent a little more time understanding each other.”