Member Article

Care home residents and primary students form friendship

A Hull care home is teaming up with a neighbouring primary school to provide activities and friendship for residents and students.

Staff from Wilton Lodge, Holderness Road, have partnered with the team at Woodland Primary School, starting with the Hull City of Culture 2017 Challenge Hull ‘Conga of Culture’. Staff and residents from the home recently joined teachers and students from the school to put together an impressive 215-person long conga line as part of the creative scheme.

The partnership was set up to support the residents of Wilton Lodge, which is operated by not for profit organisation Hica Group, to maintain their involvement in the community.

Penni Brown, chief executive at Hica Group said: “The partnership between Wilton Lodge and Woodland Primary School is a great example of the community based activities we encourage across our homes.

“The residents really enjoy spending their time with the children. It brings a sense of nostalgia and joy which leaves lasting memories. The impact is especially noticeable in our residents with dementia.

“We are looking forward to seeing the friendship continue and grow with even more activities in the spring and summer months.”

The group is now looking forward to a bowls tournament between the residents and children, which is set to take place in the spring. The young students will also visit the home to take part in activities including crafts and sing along sessions.

Woodlands Primary School head teacher, Mrs Kirsten Bradley, said: “We were delighted to welcome the residents of Wilton Lodge to our school. The students had a lovely time and made some new friends, and learnt a lot on the way.

“We want to encourage our students to continue to be respectful of older people, as well as understanding issues like dementia and memory loss. We feel that by building these relationships we are bringing together our community and teaching valuable social lessons.”

For more information, please visit https://hica-uk.com/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Hica Group .