AKS students bring a smile to the elderly during lockdown

PUBLISHED 27 March 2020

As so many of you will know, AKS have been bringing sunshine to the elderly within the local community and supporting Just Good Friends for a number of years. Our plans to bring people together to give them opportunities to socially interact with each other and with the younger generation have (for obvious reasons) had to be put on hold.

Our worry is without social interaction our work to combat loneliness in the local community cannot continue in the same way as before and so the Bring Me Sunshine Committee set a Compassion in the Community challenge to all Year 7 pupils asking them to write to a member of Just Good Friends telling them about themselves and asking questions to make them reflect on their own childhood and stories from their past.

We also took the opportunity to stuff the envelopes with word searches, crosswords and Sudoku for anyone who wants to challenge themselves mentally.

The Bring Me Sunshine Committee collected over 80 cards to help the elderly, when more than ever they need a little interaction with the outside world and hopefully this will bring a smile to their day.

I am hoping that this will encourage a pen-pal scheme as letter go back and forth between the generations using this as a time to learn from each other as well as keeping each other company.