Intergenerational Community Cohesion Project

Location

Senior Project Worker: Lorna Jacques

We aim to improve young people and older people's experience of living together in their community. It is a three year project (2010–13) that is focussed on four areas in Greenwich: Horn Park, Middle Park, Glyndon and Plumstead Common.

We work with young people (aged 10-17) and older people (aged 50+). Throughout this project, we engage all parts of the community in the project, from Greenwich local authority, police and housing to community centres, schools, faith groups and local businesses. Our goal is to improve younger and older people's experience of living together in their community.

Looking ahead this term

This term we will be:

• Supporting two young people achieving an Arts Award for their intergenerational work
• Training a group of younger and older people to run a public intergenerational event at Hornimans Museum
• Creating an induction for young people going into transitions units to look at positive responses to conflict at Eltham Academy
• Creating an intergenerational wall in Middle Park Community Centre
• Intergenerational skill sharing activities in Waterside School
• Intergenerational sessions on the theme of ‘what we have in common’ at Eltham Hill Technology College

Find out more about our current work by emailing Lorna.Jacques@childrenssociety.org.uk

Allowing all generations' voices to be heard

We run workshops and sessions in the four areas: Helping young people and older people to get to a point when they can co-deliver training. We promote positive responses to conflict through our Conflict, communication and community programme, which promotes sharing skills, promoting intergenerational contact and building trust across the community.

Please read about a completed project called Young Voices, a response to the 2011 riots.

Throughout all of our work we seek to find out and address perceptions of young and older people, and use the input of the participants to shape the project. Ultimately, we want to see a positive community spirit that has been developed in all four areas that can and will continue after the three years of the project.

Packs to download

• Project information pack
• Conflict, communication and community programme
• Intergenerational school project
• Activities for community settings
• The Riots Remembered, a newspaper written by young people in the Young Voices project