Wigan school pupils reach out to older generations

Thoughtful pupils at a Wigan borough school have been reaching out to older generations by sending uplifting letters.

The messages have been well-received by residents in sheltered accommodation, helping to keep spirits high during lockdown.

A first batch of correspondence from Atherton Community School students was delivered this week following an idea from Wigan Council scheme manager Rebecca Shala.

She said: “We phone sheltered accommodation residents regularly to check how they are, and I’d noticed that many of them were asking about how my own children were coping.

“I realised that for some of the residents, this time had brought back memories of war time, when they were children themselves, so I wondered if there was a way to bring younger and older people together, without them physically meeting.”

Rebecca approached staff at the school, one of the sites open to children of key workers and vulnerable young people, to suggest the inter-generational project.

Teacher Jack Mitchell said: “We thought the idea was fantastic. We’ve tried to make sure that, for the children who are still attending school, their time there is as upbeat as possible, so we started by having a discussion about all of the unexpectedly positive things that have come out of the lockdown period so far.

“The young people were able to come up with lots of examples to include in their letters and what started as an activity to help cheer the older people up, also resulted in being very uplifting for the children.”

The letters are now being distributed to residents in the council’s sheltered accommodation schemes and care homes across the borough.

Rebecca added: “The letters are so kind and heartfelt.

“I think the residents will love them.

“They will definitely put a smile on their faces, and I am hoping that some of them may write back.”