FRAMEWORK FOR AN INTER-GENERATIONAL PROJECT

Who’s involved?

LinkAge is a charity which seeks to support older people in the greater Bristol region by promoting and/or providing activities and services designed to help them participate more fully in the life of their local communities. It has been described as providing the ‘handle’ for a ‘basket’ of activities in a given area. The services are delivered via LinkAge ‘hubs’ which are housed in existing facilities such as residential homes or community centres.

The Bristol Junior Chamber (BJC) is an 80-strong membership organisation of young professionals from various sectors and industries, whose overall objective is to promote and support business and commerce in the city. One of the ways this is achieved is through an education and skills programme which aims to equip the young leaders of tomorrow with the skills they need to aspire and succeed in the world of work.

What’s it all about?

Together, LinkAge and the BJC have developed a framework for an inter-generational project which would see students from participating schools building relationships with older members of their local communities through the local LinkAge hub.

The aim is to involve both the old and young participants in a balanced relationship in which both parties can contribute their skills and experience to the benefit of the other.

Through an initial one-year project facilitated and catalysed by the BJC/LinkAge partnership, it is hoped that the relationship between the school and the LinkAge hub will then grow independently and evolve into a long-term, sustainable vehicle for engaging young and old through a variety of events and initiatives bespoke to the particular community in which they are based.