Community connections

Tom Owen, Director, My Home Life England

Many of us are painfully aware of how isolated we’ve become over the past two years.

The pandemic affected two groups in particular - care home residents and school children. A wonderful new initiative now hopes to bring older and younger members of our communities together.

The nationwide Become a Care Home Friend scheme invites schools across the country to join a 10-week programme of activities that will build meaningful, much-needed links with care homes and foster understanding between the generations. Children and older people get so much out of a relationship

The Scarborough and Locals Together charity shop is celebrating being open for 10 years and helping the local community. MARIE GERMENEY

with each other, but their contact can be very limited. This project will boost children’s self-esteem by allowing them to make a positive difference to others. And it will help care home residents feel more connected to their local community.

We’ve seen so much joy, fun and energy in similar initiatives, so we warmly encourage schools to take part.

One youngster who’s made new friends through our work said: “I feel overjoyed because we made wordsearches for the older people and that makes me feel nice.” I think that says it all. For more information visit: https:// myhomelife.org.uk/