Home Instead Brighton, Hove and Shoreham and local schools collaborate for Christmas 2023

We invited volunteers from Goldstone Primary School to join our older clients for a Christmas party event which was held at Bishop Hannington Church Centre, 2-4pm on Thursday 7th December. 

The children from Goldstone Primary School have a choir named the Gold Tone’s and they sang carols including ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ and ‘Jingle Bells’. Clients of Home Instead Brighton, Hove and Shoreham were provided with song sheets to join in and participate. We also had a raffle for the clients to get involved with and there were a number of different prizes to be won. The clients had the opportunity to connect and chat with each other over tea and cakes which were kindly provided by Tesco Hove Westway Express.

We also organised the distribution of Christmas cards and letters from children at Brackenbury Primary School to Home Instead clients, to help those isolated this Christmas and bring some joy to our elderly community. Home Instead client, Martin, said “It was an unexpected pleasure to receive a card from the children of the school”. 

Head Teacher at Brackenbury Primary School, Lizzie Mullarky, said “The children at Brackenbury love to write to people who may be at home and not be able to see many people. It helps us learn to write to a different audience, think of others and wish them well over the festive period.”  One of the children from the school said “It is nice to write to people who may be by themselves or would like to get a letter at Christmas. I hope it makes them happy.”

There are many benefits to bringing the generations together, including greater community involvement and a sense of belonging. Greater interaction between old and young can help boost confidence, skills and opportunities, whilst changing negative attitudes towards ageing (United for All Ages, 2019). According to Age UK (2018), older people engaging with the young can help decrease loneliness, delay mental decline, promote mobility, and reduce risk of disease. For the young, engaging with the older generations can help language development, improve reading age, and increase social skills.

Liz Brackley, owner of Home Instead Brighton, Hove and Shoreham, says: “Home Instead runs a number of community events throughout the year and this was a fantastic way to get everyone together. Our intergenerational events play an important role in making sure our clients feel valued, engaged and supported. We’re delighted to have local schools on board this Christmas for the benefit of our clients and we hope our efforts make them smile”.