Pen pal scheme builds connections between young and old
Mallard Court Care Home in Bridlington has teamed up with Our Lady and St Peter RC Primary School for a newly launched pen pal scheme – connecting residents with creative writing pupils.
The initiative aims to tackle loneliness among older generations, while building meaningful connections between young and old.
It also gives children a valuable opportunity to develop their writing skills in a real-world context.
Pupils from the school, who are on the Tigers Trust Premier League Stars programme, are taking part in the project.
They began by writing letters to residents at Mallard Court, sharing what Christmas means to them and adding a few fun facts about themselves.
Tigers Trust staff member Hannah delivered the letters to the residents of Mallard Court, and they have since written back to the children.
The exchange will continue throughout the year, creating an ongoing conversation between the two groups sharing letters and pictures of activities and interest
A spokesperson at Mallard Court said: “Residents have really enjoyed sharing their stories with the young pupils; and they loved reading about the individual children.
"The initiative has been very successful and the residents at our home have wonderful life stories and really enjoyed writing to the young ones. We also wish to say thank you to the children for the beautiful hand-made calendars they made for our residents.”