Intergenerational FGS

Posted at 11:10 am on 5th February, 2020

At Flixton Girls School (FGS), we empower our students’ involvement and promotion of a greater understanding of the world and the local community that surrounds them. Recently local Trafford Councillor Joanne Harding, committee member of the Health & Wellbeing board, invited a group of students to participate in the Trafford Age Well Conference, hosted at FGS. This provided an intergenerational view of issues relating to ageing, dementia and our local community.

In Trafford, like most places in the UK and globally, our population is ageing. Ageing is often perceived in negative terms, but many older people enjoy a healthy, happy older age and contribute enormously to their family, friends and wider society. The role of older people in volunteering, or in providing care to others, is invaluable in improving the quality of life for us all.

Trafford’s ‘Age Well Board’ is made up of representatives from the Council, Trafford CCG, health and social care, housing providers and our partners in the voluntary and social care sector, along with the Start Well and Live Well Boards report to Trafford’s Health & Wellbeing Board. It works together to improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities for Trafford’s residents.

The generational gap in local communities is expanding, which can cause a lack of cohesion in our communities. Creating intergenerational activities promotes greater understanding and respect between generations and contributes to building a more cohesive community. For older people, the benefits can include increased motivation, increased perception of self-worth, reduced social isolation and recognition of the skills they have. Both the younger and older age groups can benefit from improved health and wellbeing through intergenerational activities.

Working with schools to find examples of good practice in intergenerational work can help to bring communities together and create a long-term age and dementia-friendly community. Our students had lots of ideas and discussions to support this long and short-term support.

Students Amelia Lockett and Freya D-S said, ‘We were very happy to be selected for the Age UK Conference. Being able to meet dementia specialists, share our personal experiences and give our input for future ideas, assisted us in our Health and Social Care studies. Knowledge of ageing and dementia in our local community and how we could incorporate time in school to help, was time well spent. We’ve taken a lot away from this experience and we really appreciated the opportunity to be involved.’

We hope to work together with Trafford’s Age Well Board with future discussions and activities including our idea of a ‘Dementia Café’ and thank Councillor Harding for the opportunity to be involved in this process.