Generations

Leeds United

Intergenerational projects in the city Contents

page 3 Foreword

page 4 What is Intergenerational Practice?

page 6 Writing Back University of Writing Back Project page 10 Generation Squad Fall Into Place Community Theatre page 12 The Fashionable Lounge Leeds Grand Theatre page 14 Kissing it Better Kissing it Better page 16 Decades of Youth Leeds Museums & Galleries page 20 Secondhand Stories The Writing Squad page 22 Adopt A Grandparent Moor Allerton Elderly Care (MAECare) page 24 Sparking Memories M&S Company Archive Page 26 Looking Ahead Sage Project Page 27 Credits & Contacts

I was surprised at how able and willing to join in people with dementia were. My prejudgment of people with dementia was that they are shy and not interested in joining in however, once the session had started, many of the residents enjoyed the craft tasks. Leeds City College Student who took part in Sparking “ Memories 2 Foreword It’s so good to have this Leeds Generations United report which showcases some wonderful intergenerational projects in Leeds and demonstrates what can be achieved through this work. This is a time when all around us we hear talk of divisions in society, loneliness and barriers, and a loss of community. These projects, with the values they embody and the benefits they have brought to everyone involved show that all this is not inevitable. By working together creatively old and young can enjoy each other’s company, discover a new perspective on life and community, and find that so many of the stereotypes we develop about “other people” disappear as we get to know one another.

Leeds has a history of excellence in intergenerational work. But every generation, whether of older or younger people, needs opportunities to discover for themselves the lessons of mutual co- operation, respect and understanding, in schemes invented for new times. In the face of budget pressures and social stress, it is not always easy to find the means to create these opportunities. But the projects illustrated here (and others in the planning stage) show that it can be done, with committed partnerships, energy, and imagination.

Leeds aspires to be an Age Friendly City and to be a Child and Young People Friendly City. The hope in publishing this report is that Leeds citizens of every generation will come together to create a city for all ages — or, in the words of a participant in one of the featured projects, Second Hand Stories: “all of us making a story together.”

Bronwen Holden, Trustee, Leeds Older People’s Forum

Five years ago Leeds set out on its journey to become a Child Friendly City. As the network for third sector organisations working with children, young people and families Young Lives Leeds members understand that we can only deliver our Child Friendly ambitions if people from all generations pull together.

In a perfect world every child and every older person would be settled in a caring family that surrounded them with warmth and energy and where there were always opportunities to share stories and experiences. In that world people of every age would look out for each other in their neighbourhood, helping people to thrive and make new friendships and connections.

While we don’t live in a world where these things always happen spontaneously. The brilliant projects reported here, some of which involved Young Lives Leeds members, show that it’s possible to make spaces where people reach across the generations and touch each other’s lives. We shouldn’t underestimate how important these projects are for building the relationships that help people to connect, to grow and to feel part of a community.

Ann Pemberton, Chair,Young Lives Leeds 3 What is Intergenerational Practice?

‘Intergenerational practice aims to bring people together in purposeful, mutually beneficial activities which promotes greater understanding and respect between generations and contributes to building more cohesive communities. Intergenerational practice is inclusive, building on the positive resources that the different generations have to offer each other and those around them.’ 1 Intergenerational practice isn’t a new concept; many organisations in Leeds have been quietly going about it for several years as it’s a wonderful way of bringing people together to learn, play, celebrate and share different life experiences. Young and old people are sometimes wary of each other but often soon find they have much in common and that their perceptions about each other are misplaced and there is much that they can learn from each other. Various research has shown that younger and older people are the two groups most affected by ageist attitudes and marginalisation in society.

There are clear benefits to intergenerational work:2 ● Provide an opportunity for both to learn new skills ● Give the child and the older adult a sense of purpose ● Help to alleviate fears children may have of older adults ● Help children to understand and later accept their own ageing ● Invigorate and energise older adults ● Help reduce the likelihood of depression in older adults ● Reduce the isolation of older adults and younger people ● Fill a void for children who do not have grandparents available to them ● Help keep family stories and history alive ● Aide in cognitive stimulation as well as broaden social circles should a youth introduce technology into the life a senior The projects highlighted in this report show how far intergenerational projects have come since their early days. These projects aren’t about old people talking to or at young people or vice-versa but about people working together and feeling that they are part of something special. They demonstrate how they breaking down barriers between the generations leads to increased confidence and reducing social isolation (something that is damaging to people of all ages). This in turns improves people’s wellbeing as well as their physical and mental health. Research shows that lacking social connections is as damaging to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day .3

1 Centre for Intergenerational Practice: Beth Johnson Foundation – www.centreforip.org.uk 2 http://www.bayshorehomecare.com/10-benefits-connecting-youth-seniors 3 Holt-Lunstad, 2015 4 Personally the biggest impact was realising that very quickly it ceased to be a workshop between older and younger people, and just became people working together creatively. “Shaffa (student pen pal), Writing Back Project

As well as highlighting the positives the report also lists some of the stumbling blocks faced by the projects and how they would do things differently in the future to overcome these. The examples in this report represent just a snapshot of the work going on in Leeds, which is working towards World Health Organisation (WHO) status as an Age Friendly City. People of all ages should feel valued and part of the community and there is a strong desire to make this happen in this city.

Coming Together Leeds is fortunate in that the city has a vibrant and innovative third sector which has good relationships with both the statutory and private sectors as well as artistic organisations such as local theatres. These different sectors regularly come together to work in partnership with each other, something which is demonstrated in this report. Leeds as a city regularly embraces partnership working across all sectors and age groups often in innovative ways. In true Yorkshire style the work nearly always represents great value for money. This seems to be very much the case with the projects highlighted in the report.

Looking ahead There is new intergenerational work starting up all the time in Leeds. One scheme which is currently in the process of setting up is featured in this report. Leeds Older People’s Forum is always keen to hear from organisations which are doing inter-generational work and you don’t need to be an older people’s organisation to contact us just as long as your project involves older people you are welcome to get in touch. Hopefully some of you reading this will even be inspired to set up your own intergenerational project. Anything that brings people together in a positive way and leaves them feeling better for being a part of something has to be worthwhile and worth celebrating.

Leeds Older People’s Forum Would like to thank all the projects which took part in this report and our partners , Young Lives Leeds and Child Friendly Leeds.

5 Writing Back

Dr Georgina Binnie, Founder of Writing Back

Where/When Project Profile Participants are recruited from Writing Back is a volunteer letter-writing project that across Leeds and Yorkshire. matches undergraduate students as pen pals with older The scheme has been running since Yorkshire residents. September 2014. Having volunteered as a befriender at Halcyon Court Partners: Care Home, and regularly exchanged letters with my Archival organisations: Special grandma, I saw that there might be an opportunity Collections at the Brotherton Library, within my department to encourage cross-generational ULITA - an Archive of International communication between students and the older Textiles, M&S Company Archive, population. Leeds Libraries and the Archive Service. Pen pals are matched up based on common interests. Stamps and stationery are provided and all letters are Funding Assistance sent via the University. We hold a celebratory lunch The project has been variously meet-up at the end of each year. funded by a Leeds for Life Foundation Grant, The Footsteps Our participants continuously challenge stereotypes Fund: Making a World of Difference surrounding student living and ageing. As one of our Campaign and the School of English student pen pals attests, “There seems to be a certain and Faculty of Arts Humanities and degree of stigma around having friends that are quite a Culture at the University of Leeds lot older… but they (my pen pal) became exactly that – friends.”

6 Benefits Recent research from the University of York suggests that lonely people are 30% more likely to suffer a stroke or develop heart disease. Loneliness doesn’t just affect It may seem strange! older people. A 2010 study by the Mental Health But I think we can Foundation found that 18 to 34 year olds were more bridge the gap of our likely to feel lonely more often as well. Writing Back ages, long may this targets loneliness in both of these demographics by “friendship last. pairing students as pen pals with older Yorkshire Joyce (Older pen pal) residents. By matching students with older people from across Yorkshire, a new and profoundly unique friendship is created.

Writing a letter can facilitate dialogue, foster emotional wellbeing and ease social isolation. Our project is cost I feel especially now it and time-effective, with pen pals exchanging letters is important that the with one another approximately every two weeks and all generation gap be costs being covered. Writing Back has huge social bridged as, much as benefits for both parties, particularly when aiding the people would like to smooth transition of students from sixth form to think there is, there is university. Our students are provided with copies of historic photographs of Yorkshire by our archival not much difference partners. This use of archives encourages a mutual between us. exchange of stories, as our older participants share their Shaffa (Joyce’s student knowledge of Yorkshire in return. pen pal)

Anything which didn’t work? Due to data protection, all letters are sent via the University, with only myself having access to participant’s addresses during the course of the It’s such a great idea scheme. Whilst pen pals can choose to exchange details getting young and old with one another after our meet-up event, the long ages staying up to date holiday periods can sometimes cause a delay in with how they’re correspondence. tackling life. Writing to The project seeks to tackle loneliness in students and my student friend older people but the loneliest members of society can change[s] my day-to- be hard to reach. I would always welcome suggestions as to how I can continue to expand the project, along day way of living. with receiving older referrals. Pat (older pen pal) 7 Writing Back

8 Older people referrals Writing Back received referrals from the following organisations in 2016/17:

● Leeds Libraries ● Action for Older People ● West Yorkshire Archive Service ● Age UK North Yorkshire ● Caring Together in Little London & ● Leeds Irish Health and Homes Woodhouse ● Carers News ● Middleton Elderly Aid ● Bramley Elderly Action ● OPAL ● Moor Allerton Elderly Care ● Leeds Irish Health & Homes ● Ellerton Lunch Club ● Connect Well ● St. Michael and All Angels Church ● Old Farnley Action ● Headingley ● Roundhay Tea & Chat ● People in Action 9 Generation Squad

Sarah Goodyear, Director of Fall Into Place Community Theatre

Where/When Project Profile Meanwood area We bring together older people (55+) and young people The project ran a pilot from May-Sept (14 – 25) to create performances. We rehearse weekly, 2015. It then started running January playing games and improvising. The hope of this is to 2017 and will continue until break down barriers between old and young, form new December 2017 unless more friendships, increase confidence and reduce isolation in funding/income can be found to keep both generations. it going longer term. We particularly encourage people who have never acted Partners: before, live alone, and have mobility issues to join us, Fall into Place Community Theatre & and we have a dementia friendly choir as part of our University of Leeds ‘Writing Back’ performance. We do two performances a year for the Project. local community. Funding Assistance Fall Into Place applied for Lloyds Social Enterprise Scheme and was awarded a placement on the course and £4,000 to start the project up. We are also expected to receive another £1,200 from a similar interest community theatre company that is disbanding and donating some of their leftover assets to us.

10 Benefits Reduced isolation and opportunity to meet and form friendships across generations is a huge benefit to Four months of fun participants. These are two age groups that don’t often I will remember get the opportunity to interact anymore, but who really benefit from learning and being creative together. forever. Participants have reported increased confidence, “Older person, 77 reduced anxiety particularly in groups, a great deal of fun and enjoyment, and a strong bond with the It’s been great participants, stating they feel ‘like a family.’ Drama is a meeting everyone, fun, interactive way to form friendships without the meeting the local pressure of having to make conversation – this comes community. I’m naturally through the sessions. really glad I got involved, I’m loving it. Student, 17 Anything which didn’t work? Cost of transport is an issue – we cover travel expenses for participants who cannot themselves attend otherwise due to mobility and high cost of taxis. To reach these people (often most isolated) covering travel expenses is a big factor in if they will attend. Students can be less reliable, attending sessions more sporadically than the older ones, which slows down getting to know each other well. Also, we were keen to involve people with dementia, however we found those in the later stages struggled to keep up/focus on the drama activities. This is why we developed the dementia friendly choir.

11 The Fashionable Lounge

Laura Cope, Learning Officer, Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House

Where/When Project Profile The intergenerational project was a We invited 11 students from Kippax Ash Tree Primary one-day event with our regular group School to come in and spend an afternoon with the The Fashionable Lounge. Fashionable Lounge group with the aim to encourage The Fashionable Lounge is an arts young people to spend more time with the older and social group who meet once a generation. month, made up of retired people aged from aged 50 to over 90. We Laura from the Learning Team at City Varieties went meet in the circle bar of the Victorian into school to brief the students on what to expect Music Hall; City Varieties. during the session and to teach them interviewing techniques the week before. Partners: When the pupils arrived, we played some games so we Kippax Ash Tree Primary School and Leeds Grand Theatre & Opera House. all felt comfortable with each other. The pupils and the members of the Fashionable Lounge then got paired up Funding Assistance and the pupils interviewed members of the group about Leeds Older People’s Forum gave us their lives. The questions were mainly about what a small pot of funding for our event. childhood was like when we were young. The pupils then presented back their findings by way of pictures, factsheets and acting out scenes. Laura then took the pupils outside and they chose one story from Jack, one of the Fashionable Lounge members. Jack had fought in the war and the children found this very interesting and asked him lots of questions about it.

12 They then came in and presented his story through still images. Members of the Fashionable Lounge had to then guess which story they had chosen. We all had a fantastic afternoon and when Laura asked When the group for words to describe the afternoon the pupils and leader asked for members of Fashionable Lounge came up with many words to describe the including ‘really fun’, ‘educational’, ‘excellent’, afternoon the pupils ‘interesting’ and ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.’ “and members of Fashionable Lounge Benefits came up with many The objectives of the session were to give young people including: the opportunity to do something fun with the older ‘really fun’, generation and to highlight the benefits of spending time with older people. ‘educational’, ‘excellent’ The pupils learnt a lot about what childhood was like for ‘interesting’ and the older generation and enjoyed learning about their ‘supercalifragilistice lives. They particularly liked the interview task and felt as though they were leading the session which was great xpialidocious’! to see.

The members of the Fashionable Lounge had a great afternoon with the pupils and were made to feel valued by the young people.

The project also helped breakdown stereotypes of both older and younger people. One comment from the older group was how well behaved and engaged the pupils were, something which was surprising to some.

Anything which didn’t work? Transport and getting members of the Fashionable Lounge to the venue is always challenging. The access bus is often booked up and taxis are unreliable. The bar area at City Varieties was great at creating a social & informal atmosphere during the session but it would have been nice to have a little more space.

13 Kissing it Better

Susan Walls, Kissing It Better

Where/When Project Profile SLIC-the South Leeds Independence Kissing it Better runs two intergenerational programmes Centre in Beeston. in Leeds, allowing young people to light up the day for CICU-a rehabilitation unit for older older people who’ve been unwell and may be feeling people at St James' Hospital. lonely or vulnerable. In June 2015, Leeds Community The flagship project is at the South Leeds Independence Healthcare NHS Trust commissioned Centre in Beeston, a live-in unit for older people who Kissing it Better (KiB) to run a need extra care after being discharged from hospital. flagship project at SLIC, with a view to extending the programme into Every weekday morning, students from all over the city other Trust units. The scheme has arrive to help SLIC’s patients regain their independence been running since September 2016. and feel part of the world again. They offer a range of projects including music, art, poetry, animal visits and Partners: reminiscence sessions. Kissing it Better, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, South Leeds All Kissing it Better projects are individually created to Independence Centre, St James’ meet the needs of patients, while taking into account Hospital & St Mary’s Hospital. the particular skills of student volunteers.

14 Benefits It’s now widely accepted that emotional healing is a crucial part of physical healing. There’s little point in fixing someone’s femur if their spirit is broken. At SLIC, young people bring laughter, fun and friendship into the Thank you for letting unit every day, which helps build confidence and me be involved in encourages therapeutic relationships. Kissing it Better this Sarah Crabtree, Clinical Unit Manager at SLIC: year. I have loved “Patients have the opportunity to be involved in arts “spending time with the that they have never seen before, and listen to talented older patients and young people just starting out on their life journey. When students leave the patients continue to hearing the amazing communicate with each other and form friendships – stories of their lives. this all helps with the rehab process. Happy patients get Daphne Papaioannou, better more quickly!” Psychology Michele Cale, Leeds City Council: Undergraduate, “The service contributes to each person’s wellbeing and enables them to gain more confidence to adapt to the University of Leeds change in circumstances. In turn, this confidence allows them to recover at greater speed and reduces their The girls are funny dependency on the unit they are in.” because they like to hear stories about our

Anything which didn’t work? soldier boyfriends. Romance happened Susan Walls from Kissing it Better says: ‘The projects very quickly during work because of the quality of students we engage. We get the best students because we offer the best the war and this seems experience – every moment students spend with us is to interest them. carefully planned and supported; each day’s session is Emily Gillard, 92 meticulously designed to meet the needs of the patients, who change regularly. This isn’t a problem, but it is a lot of hard work! Our main problem is getting students to and from the project in Beeston, especially university students who have limited time for volunteering we do spend a lot of money on taxi fares.

15 Decades of Youth

Patrick Bourne, Assistant Community Curator, Abbey House Museum Angela Thompson,Youth Engagement Officer, Abbey House Museum

Where/When Project Profile Project duration: Feb-July 2016 The purpose of this project was to produce an exhibition Museum exhibition: July-Dec 2016. exploring what it was like to be a young person growing up in different decades, from the postwar period to Areas of Leeds incorporated within present. outreach and/or exhibition content: Armley, Beeston, Burley, City Centre, Abbey House Museum worked with a group of young Cookridge, Harehills, Horsforth, people (The Vintage Youth Club) to curate a display , Potternewton, Woodhouse. which explored themes of education and employment, Partners: lifestyle, music and fashion. In the process the group had chance to chat to people of different generations Leeds Museums and Galleries; The about their experiences of growing up. Vintage Youth Club; Bramley Elderly Action; SAA-UK; Angel of Youths; Members of older generations were given the chance to Caring Together (Woodhouse & Little reflect on their own experiences and compare and London); individual participants – contrast them with the experiences of young people Maureen Kershaw, Mark Saville, today. Khadijah Ibrahiim, Marie Hewlett, Andrew McCann, Nicky Midgley, Ellen The finished exhibition explored these themes through Dickson, Scum. filmed interviews, photographs, quotes, museum Funding Assistance objects and items loaned in by participants including photographs, records and autographs. Funded through Arts Council England.

16 Benefits The project allowed genuine intergenerational engagement. Members of The Vintage Youth Club were able to hear first-hand about the experiences of members of Caring Together (Woodhouse and Little The experience of London) and Bramley Elderly Action putting on the Reminiscence Group. exhibition was so Likewise older people were able to reminisce freely “valuable to my about their lives as young people from schooling and understanding of what working to getting ‘made up’ and going out ice-skating it is to work in a or dancing. museum, and also as One extremely helpful contributor was Maureen someone that’s moved Kershaw, a life-long Leeds resident, who was interviewed by Vintage Youth Club members Megan to Leeds (fairly) recently Jones and Emily Wells about going out to pop concerts from a different area, it in Leeds and working in her first job in the 1960s. was a great way to Maureen provided first-hand oral histories about her learn more about the experiences, which were made into digistories. city’s history too. And of Maureen, Megan and Emily have since formed lasting friendships. course, I forged some great friendships along The project also allowed for other groups of young people (South Asian Arts UK and Angel of Youths) to the way! engage with the topic of changes and similarities Megan Jones, The between their generation and others. The topic of Vintage Youth Club music was a particularly strong one. Contributors remembered the records they bought through the year from 1970s punk (Mark Saville) to 1980s reggae (Khadijah Ibrahiim) which provided a good contrast with footage of current contenders performing in ’s annual Battle of the Bands.

Continued on page 18

17 The launch event, held on the morning of 23rd July 2016 saw a real coming together of all the generations involved in the project. An event to tie-in with the exhibition held on International Youth Day (12th August 2016) provided an extra opportunity for members of different generations to join in a day of dressing up and retro make-up, which also featured performances of music across the decades by young people. ● Megan Jones gained valuable first hand museum experience. She is now Leeds Museums and Galleries’ new Digital Officer. ● Emily Wells is now a mentor for new members of the Vintage Youth Club. The group co-curated another exhibition, entitled ‘Comics Unmasked’ for Abbey House Museum, which ran until 16 July 2017. Abbey House Museum continue to work closely with Caring Together and Bramley Elderly Action on other projects.

To find out more or to get in touch with us about The Vintage Youth Club, please contact [email protected]

18 The enthusiasm of the Vintage Youth Group and supportive Museum staff as we “shared ideas for the exhibition was fun, interesting and so rewarding. To see the achievements of the young team at the Launch was exciting and I felt honoured and proud to be part of the whole experience!” Maureen Kershaw, project participant

Anything which didn’t work? The time-limited nature of the project due to individual commitments (three months preparation) plus the huge potential scope of the topic for what was a comparatively small display limited the ability to include more. A longer lead-in time and a slightly larger space would have allowed the subject to be displayed in greater depth. In retrospect the exhibition could have benefited from being in-situ for longer than five months. This is something we have learned from. Abbey House Museum now has a larger community gallery, and we are already involved planning youth and community displays of longer durations in 2019 and beyond. Perhaps due to the nature of some of the audience, social media callouts asking for general reminiscences on ‘their era’ did not result in as strong a response.

19 Secondhand Stories

Steve Dearden, Director, The Writing Squad

Where/When Project Profile July 23rd 2016 at the Headingley The writer Malika Booker took a group of Young at Arts Heart Centre. participants and emerging writers from the Writing Squad Partners: round the charity shops of Headingley. They each had £10 to spend. The Writing Squad, Yorkshire Dance Young at Arts. We went back to the Heart Centre in Headingley and Funding Assistance discussed what people had bought, which was often surprising, the young writers buying what you would Jointly funded by the Writing Squad expect an older person to buy and vice versa! and Yorkshire Dance Young at Arts, Time to Shine. Then, in groups of four or five, we used the objects to create stories that we told each other which ranged from a Time to Shine is managed by Leeds murder mystery to an epic seaborne adventure. Older People’s Forum (LOPF) and funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Fulfilling Lives: Ageing Better programme to reduce social isolation and loneliness amongst people over 50. Leeds is one of 14 Ageing Better areas, selected from an original 100 in England. LOPF secured £6 million from Big Lottery Fund to reach more than 15,000 older people in the city by 2021. Photos by Steve Dearden 20 It is an abalone shell pendant, it is alive now and connects me with “other people all over Benefits the world through The main benefit to the Young at Arts contributors was the sea. the simplicity of being creative, several people said, Young at Arts “I didn’t know I could be so creative just out of my own participant head”. Without paints and canvases, or lights and scripts, just imagination, which inspired by a few objects, can set off great trains of the imagination, What surprised me resulting in surprising stories. was I stopped For the young writers from the Writing Squad, this was thinking it was us their first experience of an intergenerational writing workshop, so in professional development terms it was working with them, a chance to add new skills to their portfolio as working very quickly it was writers. Personally the biggest impact was realising just all of us making that very quickly it ceased to be a workshop between a story together. older and younger people, and just became people working together creatively. Writing Squad The other thing it did for them, and in a reflective way participant for the Young at Arts participants, was show that people have lives, and that adventure, travel, experiences and difference are not the sole territory of This is the first time the young! I have seen my daughter work, it is so lovely to see how creative she is, and I will take some of the things we have done today back to my community. Malika’s Mum

21 Adopt a Grandparent

Barbara Bailey, Project Worker Community Connections, MAECare

Where/When Project Profile The project covers LS17 – Shadwell, The Community Connections project is looking at three Alwoodley and North Moortown. The different ways to help reduce social isolation amongst project funding started in April 2015 older people. and runs until March 2018. One way is through linking the generations and Partners: exploring the very special relationship that exists Moor Allerton Elderly Care between young and old. MAECare is involved with a Funding Assistance penpal scheme with a local primary school and an Adopt a Grandparent scheme. The Adopt a Grandparent scheme is a component of the Community The Adopt a Connections project funded by The Grandparent scheme is Tudor Trust. connecting older people who have no regular contact with family or grandchildren, with families who, for whatever reason, do not have an older person in their lives. To date, we have three families linked with three of our members.

22 Benefits The Adopt a Grandparent scheme has proved to have an enormous benefit over the three generations – child, parent and “grandparent”. I think she might feel We know that grandparents can build up such wonderful happier. She came to relationships within families. We also know that young our sports day and people do miss having an older person in their lives. was cheering. She’d However, we have found that relationships are developing “never been to a across all three generations with everyone gaining something from the relationship. Everyone likes to feel sports day before. that they have something of value to offer and we all like to She’s our family now. be needed. ‘ Grandchild’ This is certainly the case with the Adopt a Grandparent scheme. The young people bring something to the lives of the older person. The parents seem to benefit from having an older person around. The older person can offer time I thought it was for and someone for the young person to talk to outside of the the boys to benefit. immediate family. But we’d lost our For those older people who may never have had a family parents too. As a it’s a chance to attend sports days, join in with birthday mother, it is good celebrations and all of those other familial events that we to confide in perhaps take for granted. There seems to be a great deal of fun and humour emerging from our three burgeoning someone else! relationships. ‘Parent ‘ We anticipate that the relationships established now will be long lasting and will develop and change over the years. At a time when I was Anything which didn’t work? low following my The project is being developed fairly informally. bereavement, it was the This immediately raises concerns with some people around safeguarding checks and controls. This may be a best thing that ever barrier for some people. happened to me. I change things in my diary to fit. It has filled the emptiness in my life and I feel happier’ ‘Grandparent ‘

23 Sparking Memories

Katie Cameron, Archive and Outreach Officer, M&S Company Archive

Where/When Project Profile The project ran for eight weeks The M&S Company Archive’s collection is full of objects ending in July 2017. and images that can be used in reminiscence therapy; Partners: working with groups of different ages can uncover new ways of looking at and using the collection. Leeds City College, Simon Marks Care Home. We brought together A-Level students from Leeds City Funding Assistance College and residents from Simon Marks Court. Over eight weeks the group explored objects from the M&S Company The project was funded by M&S Archive, and created a collaborative archive-inspired Company Archive. artwork to go on display at the care home. The artwork was unveiled in a grand finale, with friends, relatives and the students’ tutors in attendance. The Sparking Memories project was a continuation of a partnership between the M&S Company Archive and Anchor Homes including Simon Marks Court and Halcyon Court.

24 Benefits The older people enjoyed the opportunity to have more meaningful engagement with young people, to share their stories with others and to have stimulation and I didn’t realise people engagement outside their normal routine. The group also with dementia could gained a sense of achievement by contributing to an still laugh and joke. artwork that is now displayed at the care home, and a temporary exhibition displayed at the M&S Company Leeds City College Archive. The pride that the older participants felt at seeing “Student their work on display was evident. Participants were eager to show relatives and friends the work they’d done, and I went to college to were excited that members of the public would see their study art, but I haven’t work. done anything like this Before the students’ arrival at the home each week some in a long time. residents were reluctant to participate, however once the students arrived, we saw residents become much more Resident at Simon engaged and interested. The students were able to spend Marks Court time one-on-one with the residents, ensuring relationships were built over a period of several weeks. We were really pleased with the students’ reaction to the project. They’d learnt a lot about people with dementia in a short space of time, and the sessions had challenged their perceptions of dementia and older people in general. We’d hoped the project would help the students with their future plans. So far, two are volunteering in a care home as a result of the project, and another is planning a creative project based on his experiences.

What would we do differently? Originally we wanted the students to devise the activities themselves. However, as the students were from science- based rather than creative courses it was felt this would take up too much of their time which could be better spent in the care home. Next time we’d like to invite students from a wider range of courses to take part, so they can plan the activities and final piece before delivering it.

Feedback from the students indicates that they would have liked the project to last for longer, to let them have even more time in the care home. This wasn’t practical from an M&S staff point of view, but students were encouraged to keep up contact with Simon Marks Court and it’s something we will try to factor in if we run the project again.

25 When we sent out the request for examples of Looking intergenerational work we were contacted by the Sage Project who have plans for intergenerational work which Ahead it was felt was worth highlighting.

Sage Project Yorkshire MESMAC Jude Woods, Community Development Worker, Sage Project

Yorkshire MESMAC is doing intergenerational work within their Sage Project. They think this work is very important for LGBT communities as their culture has become quite age stratified and people of all ages tell them that they want to have more opportunities for cross-age interactions. They discussed this and the Steering Group came up with the following statement. Sage Project Intergenerational Activities Intergenerational connections have many benefits for all involved; however there is a risk that older people could be marginalised within these environments. In order to maintain positive inclusion of older people the Sage Steering Group recommends that these guidelines are followed: ● The project will provide a range of activities: some will be just for older (50+) LGBT people and some will be for LGBT adults of any age (18+). ● The decision about which activities will be intergenerational will be taken by the Steering Group. ● All activities (whether intergenerational or not) will be totally accessible to older LGBT people. ● Sage intergenerational activities will include LGBT older people in leadership roles. ● Sage intergenerational activities must have either equal numbers of people under and over 50 or more people over 50. ● Yorkshire MESMAC will integrate these principles into other appropriate areas of work and services.

The Sage Project aims to tackle the social isolation faced by older LGBT*Q people. It is a partnership project between Yorkshire MESMAC and AgeUK Leeds. It is part of the Time to Shine programme to address the social isolation faced by older people and is led by Leeds Older People’s Forum.

26 Credits & Contacts

Leeds Older People’s Forum would like to thank the following organisations for their contribution to the Generations Together

Writing Back Dr Georgina Binnie, Impact and Research Fellow University of Leeds Writing Back Project 3 (Writing Back Project) [email protected] | 0113 343 6189 (Tuesdays and Fridays) Generation Squad Sarah Goodyear, Director of F.I.P Fall into Place Community Theatre [email protected] The Fashionable Lounge Laura Cope, Learning Officer, Leeds Grand Leeds Grand Theatre Theatre and Opera House Ltd [email protected] | 0113 391 7783 Kissing it Better Susan Walls Kissing it Betterpage 6 [email protected] Decades of Youth Patrick Bourne, Assistant Community Curator, Abbey House Museum Leeds Museums & Galleries [email protected] Angela Thompson, Youth Engagement Officer, Leeds Museums & Galleries [email protected] Secondhand Stories Steve Dearden, Director, Writing Squad [email protected] | 07939 561295 The Writing Squad 12 Adopt A Grandparent Barbara Bailey, Project Worker, Community Connections Moor Allerton Elderly Care (MAECare)page 0113 266 0371 | [email protected] Sparking Memories Katie Cameron, Archive and Outreach Officer M&S Company Archive, Leeds M&S Company Archive Intergenerational 020 8718 9877 Project [email protected] Sage Project Jude Woods, Community Development Worker, Yorkshire Mesmac Sage Project, Time To Shine [email protected] | 0113 244 4209

27 Design: Sean Tunnicliffe Editing: Rachel Cooper, Jim Garside & Sean Tunnicliffe ©Forum Central September 2017 Forum Central is the health and social care third sector network for Leeds. It’s delivered by the partnership of Leeds Older People’s Forum, Physical and Sensory Impairment (PSI) Network, Tenfold (learning disabilities forum) and Volition (mental health forum).

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