Creating Intergenerational Communities
Creating Intergenerational Communities programme, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, brings all four United Kingdom nations to work together to bridge the generational divide in our ageing society.
Communities across the UK are becoming increasingly fragmented and siloed, with fewer opportunities for different generations to live, work, and play together. The need for social distancing during the pandemic only exacerbated these issues, with one million more people in the UK becoming “chronically lonely”. We are facing a mental health crisis in the UK: recent research from Scotland indicates 34% of people over 50 feel their mental health has gotten worse in the last five years. At the other end of the age spectrum, 16-24 year olds are one of the groups with the highest reported rates of loneliness – 48% of those surveyed reported being lonely at least some of the time in the previous week, against an average of 35%.
What differentiates intergenerational practice from other methods of achieving social cohesion is how it provides reciprocal benefits for people of all ages. This broad, inclusive approach can bring about lasting intersectional change for society by bridging social divides, forming bonds of trust and solidarity, reducing prejudice and racism, and combating ageism and inequality.
Applying an intergenerational approach to our communities is not a “nice to have”, instead, it is rapidly becoming an essential response to our changing, ageing society.
Our programme
Creating Intergenerational Communities (#CICNCLF) is a UK pilot programme to develop potential indicators of intergenerational good practice. The pilot is taking place in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and runs from January 2023 to July 2025.
Over the course of the Creating Intergenerational Communities Programme we aim to create and trial a set of draft indicators with 30 pilot projects – from various settings, in various fields, (care, education, youth work, and third sector organisations) with different generations.
The CIC partners involved in developing this pilot, along with other organisations, are increasingly convinced of the value of developing intergenerational quality assurance guidance, to better support the intergenerational work developing in local communities in a very practical way. We believe that to build good practice, the way in which intergenerational work is planned and implemented should meet certain standards of quality, keeping in mind basic core intergenerational principles. If you follow these principles, the chances are your intergenerational project will have a greater impact.
The partnership
A formal partnership between Generations Working Together, Apples and Honey Nightingale, and Linking Generations Northern Ireland, building upon years of working closely together, forms the partnership overseeing Creating Intergenerational Communities programme.
One Spanish Pilot at Three Different Sites
We are excited to have the Macrosad Intergenerational Reference Centre, in Spain, trial the Quality Indicator Guidance Toolkit, to provide a European perspective.
One Spanish intergenerational centre and two intergenerational projects are participating in the piloting phase of quality indicators within the framework of "Creating Intergenerational Communities".
The centre is the Macrosad Intergenerational Reference Centre located in Albolote (close to Granada), which brings together, under the same roof, an older adult day centre and a nursery school for 0–3-year-olds. This centre, founded in 2018, is the only one in Spain that works in collaboration with a research and knowledge transfer team, that from the Macrosad Chair in Intergenerational Studies at the University of Granada. Actually, this Chair is providing overall monitoring of the CCC pilot.
Harmonía is the name of one of the participating intergenerational projects. Launched in 2020, in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, this project connects older and younger people through weekly telephone conversations that often also include face-to-face meetings. The idea is to facilitate relationships between people from different generations that who would otherwise have little chance of meeting and bonding.
In addition, Padre Manjón Primary and Secondary school has joined through their long-lasting intergenerational project involving older people at Macrosad’s care home in Las Gabias. This second project consists of older and younger pairs completing intergenerational diaries to encourage them to get to know each other more deeply and for a longer period of time. These diaries are based on a series of key questions emerged and tested in previous intergenerational initiatives. Participants gradually establish stronger and deeper links as they conversate and interact to feed their diaries.
Training
By training and upskilling communities, the programme will foster a sustainable legacy of effective intergenerational activities, reduce social isolation and improve wellbeing.
National Pilot #CICNCLF Network
All projects and organisations taking part in the pilot are invited to our next National Pilot Creating Intergenerational Communities Network - Thursday 13 June, 10.30-11.30am.
Want to find out more?
Regular news updates can be found each of the respective partner organisations based in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
In England and Wales, please email Marilia Pavlou.
In Scotland, email Louisa Turner.
In Northern Ireland, please email Elaine Brownlee.
Download a leaflet about the programme.
