Thousands of children visit care home residents

Some of the children do not have a relationship with their grandparents, the project bridges that gap, introducing them to the older generation

Primary school children in Warwickshire are visiting care home residents as part of a project to help young and old feel more connected to their community.

Organised by the charity Kissing it Better, the scheme helps pupils, some of whom are not in touch with their grandparents, learn how to interact with the older generation.

In the last year more than 6,000 children have taken part and the project recently won an award from charity Warwickshire Crimebeat for helping to reduce crime.

Kerry Parker, a higher level teaching assistant at Camp Hill Primary School in Nuneaton, said the scheme helped children to "feel like positive citizens".

Mrs Parker said she believed this made the pupils less inclined to be drawn into criminality later in life.

The project was set up to help older people feel happier and less isolated.

All the children have been taught thoughtfulness and how to share stories.

Kerry Parker takes students from Camp Hill Primary School in Nuneaton on regular care home visits

Jean Arnold, 82, a resident at a care home that had taken part in the scheme, said the pupils seemed much more positive compared to when she was at school and the atmosphere was much stricter.

"These children are quite free to express themselves, which is lovely", she said.

Jenny Lawless, 83, said she found all the children to be "really inquisitive and bright".

The children enjoy it too.

Mrs Parker said that, when she walks down the school corridors, children ask when they're next visiting the care home.

"If I told them it was Kissing it Better everyday, they would be loving life," she said.

Jill Fraser, chief executive of Kissing it Better, launched the charity 14 years ago with a friend

Jill Fraser, chief executive of the charity, believes passionately in educating young people to understand what it can mean to be old.

"Children are taught at a young age to take care of their baby brothers or sisters, but we're not so tolerant with people at the other end of life," she said.

She feels that, in a world where the internet is so prevalent, we also don't go to older people for information in the way we once did.

When the children realise their grandparents got into the same trouble they did and had the same worries "it's magical", she said.

Both age groups get something out of the project.

She said the children felt "valuable that they're doing that job" and the older people feel "valued that they have that wisdom that they can share".

Pupils from Camp Hill Primary School in Nuneaton look forward to visiting the local care homes