Reason why we did this
Following the success of the Youth Mental Health campaign, we were also aware of the mental health impacts of lockdown on older residents in our local care homes. Many of them will have been isolating for many months and will have not seen their friends or family. We wanted to do a project that would spread positive thoughts and happiness to those residents and show how much the community valued them.
What did we do?
We launched an intergenerational project. By working with local schools and community groups we launched a Love Through The Letterbox campaign, where children were invited to send a letter to an older person at a care home to let them know that they are thinking of them.
Letters were delivered to the Council, where they were kept for 72 hours in an airtight bag and distributed to all the care homes across the borough. Children were asked to write their first name, year group and school on the letters, so the recipients could write back via the school should they wish.
Outcomes
Over 450 letters and drawings were received - from children aged as young as five years old up to 16 years old.
