A new project which aims to brings together young children and elderly people through shared animal therapy has proved successful in bridging the generation gap.
Manor Park Care Home in Castleford have been welcoming children from neighbouring Unicorn Nursery into their home for the past three weeks as part of an intergenerational project. The project involves the hatching of six chickens which have been incubated at the home.
Part of Wakefield’s care home vanguard, which operates under the Connecting Care programme, the hatchling project aims to increase active participation of residents in a range of new activities and give children the opportunities to build relationships with another generation. It is anticipated that the project will decrease social isolation and increase self esteem.
The children have visited every day for the past three weeks to watch the hatching of six chickens and to learn about the chicks as they grow. Residents of Manor Park Care Home and the children have also enjoyed participating in daily activities together including arts and crafts, baking, board games, singing and dancing.
Claire Phelps, Care Manager at Manor Park Care Home said “Manor Park has been working with the Unicorn Nursery to raise chickens. This has been an excellent experience for residents and children alike. This whole experience has promoted positive intergenerational relationships and has improved the well being of both the children and our residents, so much so that we are planning for our next project together, the secret garden. This will be dementia friendly and help further promote integration, community engagement and well being.”
The project has also proved beneficial to the young children taking part by aiding social and emotional development and boosting their confidence.
Some of the touching moments from a recent visit were captured by BBC Look North on Wednesday 4th October.
Residents have thoroughly enjoyed the daily visits from Unicorn Nursery and are looked forward to the ‘Secret Garden’ project. Paul Brookfield, Regional Director for Manor Park Care Home presented Unicorn Nursery with some book tokens, to try and encourage further interaction and activities between the residents and children.
Manor Park Care Home provides care for residential, nursing and people living with dementia.
