iPals: Connecting people to their communities - and their identity

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Our Projects Officer Jessica writes about North London Cares' latest project in partnership with Engage Events, bringing a primary school together with a local care home to help combat loneliness...

It might seem strange that you could feel lonely whilst surrounded by people. But research - and experience - tells us that loneliness is at an all-time high. That's the case on our streets, and also in our care homes, where many residents feel lonelier and more isolated than ever before.

With this in mind, North London Cares is partnering with the small local charity I set up,Engage Events, to help our older neighbours in care homes to reconnect to their communities through a new project, iPal.

The project, which is supported by Islington Council's Community Chest fund, aims to combat social isolation in the borough by re-connecting older neighbours to some of the inspiring people and places they love, but may miss. This, in turn, can enormously increase an older person’s sense of wellbeing - and identity.

It's also a way to bring the generations together, as children from a local primary school will be part of the project, visiting their local care home to share memories, thoughts and ideas through new technology. Six Year 5 pupils will work one-to-one with an older neighbour: together they will talk, share videos, search for photographs, and listen to songs that have personal meaning to both the younger and the older neighbour.

The new events will start next Thursday, November 6th in Islington - and we'd love for some of you, our brilliant volunteers, to be there to share the experience. Each of the 6 sessions will last around an hour, starting at 1.30pm (so you might be able to cram it in during an extended lunch break) - and the final get-together is a party to celebrate the new friendships that have been made, just before Christmas.

If you'd like to join us, please email [email protected] or sign up here. I'll keep everyone up to date with the project's progress here on the NLC blog...