Community Work

Our project Happy Together is an inter-generational project involving women and young people from the community to provide activities for the elderly and vulnerable residents of the Extra Care Home in Clapham. The aim of this project was to make all the care home residents feel important and part of the community.

This project also tackled the increasingly wide issue of loneliness and isolation. Connecting with local people more allowed the residents to share their life experiences and skills with another generation. Some people’s partners had passed away and they had no family or didn’t have children, so these new connections are very valuable to them.

We offered activities like indoor and outdoor gardening teaching residents how to grow their own herbs, vegetables, and salads. They also really enjoyed our creative activities, art, painting, beading and sketching. The residents were so happy to participate in creative activities, learn a new skill and teach other a skill they already had.

Residents had a chance to meet and make friends with people from their local community in in a safe and known environment, meeting volunteers, mums and their children from the local area in our weekly sessions. Seeing local people all friendly and approachable had a huge impact and the residents were all talking and laughing more.

This project made local residents of all ages feel like they are an important part of the community; feeling valued is important. Lasting friendships were formed, and people feel less isolated and lonely.