Program fosters friendships between young and old

BELLARINE Community Health has launched a pilot intergenerational initiative bringing together clients from its Social Support program and students from Point Lonsdale Primary School to share knowledge and develop meaningful relationships.

The Social Support program provides its participants with opportunities to make friends and take part in activities that encourage physical activity, social engagement and mental stimulation.

The intergenerational initiative, named ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’, will see the two cohorts meet on a fortnightly basis for two hours for a variety of activities and a chat.

For Social Support program co-ordinator, Karen Crockford, inspiration for the initiative came from the documentary miniseries, Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds.

“Seeing the impacts on both the children and the older adults got me thinking that I’m in the perfect situation, working in a program with older adults, to bring this to life on the Bellarine,” Ms Crockford said. The pilot program aims to enhance social awareness, boost self-confidence, and provide a space for the primary school students and older adults to learn and build meaningful relationships with each other.

“It’s bringing the community together, building friendships and social connections with old and young,” Ms Crockford said.

“Hopefully a program like this will get people out of their homes…and just sharing the experiences of the generations.”Point Lonsdale Primary School principal, Fay Agterhuis, said the students had loved the experience so far.

“You see a child’s faces light up when an older person tells them about the naughtiest thing they ever did and it’s like, ‘oh my goodness, old people do naughty things too’.

“There’s definitely an excitement with the kids. They can’t wait to go back.”

A strong advocate for intergenerational programs, Ms Agterhuis said the program helped to promote our similarities, rather than our differences.

“It is really about the joy of sharing stories and learning from each other. It’s a different type of relationship and a different type of connection.

“It’s about brokering friendships and sharing lives and sharing experiences and finding commonalities.

“Older people have immense patience when listening to younger people and you see the faces light up, on both sides of the generational divide, when they find this point of connection.”

If the program proves successful, it will continue on a monthly basis through 2024.”Watch this space because it can only get bigger and better.”

For more information on Bellarine Community Health’s Social Support program, including its Memory Loss Group, call 1800 007 224 or visit bch.org.au.