We recently invited children from a local nursery to spend time with residents to help improve their overall health and happiness after being inspired by a hit TV programme.
We organised the experimental afternoon with Dandelions Nursery after watching 'Old People's home for 4 Year Olds', which aired on Channel 4 earlier this month.
Eleven pensioners from the St Monica Trust retirement village in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol and ten children from local Bristol pre-schools were selected for the ground-breaking two-part TV programme with filming taking place over a six-week period at the retirement community.
The old and young volunteers shared daily activities designed by experts, who were amazed to discover the transformative power that simply being around the children had for the older people. This resulted in some substantial improvements in the pensioners’ mental and physical health, while the children also showed benefits including language development and increased confidence.
Home ManagerKay Kelly said the staff were so inspired by the TV show, which featured a series of extraordinary and moving scenes, that they wanted to do something similar for their own residents.
We contacted Dandelions Nursery, based in Monxton Road, who were delighted to accept the invitation. Eight of the nursery’s children took part in joint activities with the residents.
Kay said: “The TV show really made an impression on the staff as it was so emotional. By bringing old and young together in this innovative experiment, the result was increased interaction, communication, creativity and emotional exchanges between the two groups. We were very keen to try and re-create that special experience here at Harrier Grange.
It was a really lovely day that everyone enjoyed, we hope the children from Dandelions Nursery will come and visit again soon!
