Letters bring young and old together

VARIOUS groups and businesses in Anglesea have partnered to launch a community engagement program bringing young and old together in challenging times.

Initiated by Anglesea Medical, the 9 to 90 program uses letter writing to connect grade 3 and 4 from Anglesea Primary to older members of the community, many of whom are still isolating due to coronavirus.

The program aims to engage older members of the community at Anglesea Aged Care, as well as people from Anglesea Men’s Shed and the Uniting Church living independently.

Anglesea Medical Dr David Corbet said the program was initiated as a way to minimise the effect of isolation on people’s wellbeing.

“We’ve had a number of older patients, particularly those that live alone, reporting that the impact of restrictions has been significant for them.

“Loneliness and social isolation have a huge impact on both physical and mental health, so we started to think about how we might support our community outside of the clinic.

“It encourages social connection and understanding, while also having the potential to reduce the negative impact of isolation. We’re really pleased to be able to contribute something more to the community.”

Anglesea Primary School principal Murray Surkitt said the students have enjoyed the program and learnt plenty as well.

“The children have been learning about how to write a letter. They’ve been very enthusiastic, very excited because it’s a real-life, authentic project for them.

“Some of them were a little bit nervous at the start, but they’ve written their letters now and it’s really inspired them to write a high-quality letter because they know it’s going to a person and they’re going to get a reply.”