'Remarkable' Bangor university project bridges generation gap

The social experiment has shown the benefits of bridging the generation gap

A social experiment that has seen toddlers eating, socialising and doing activities with elderly people has been hailed as "remarkable".

Children from a nursery school spent a week in Caernarfon's Maesincla day care centre as part of the Bangor University project.

Experts said the experiment shows the benefits of bringing children and older people together.

The results will be broadcast as part of an S4C documentary, Hen Plant Bach.

Maesincla day centre manager Idwen Roberts said: "I was a bit scared of the unknown when this started, but the results have been brilliant.

"One lady had no children and hadn't got the confidence to do anything with kids. She didn't know how to handle it, or what to say to the children.

"But by the end of the week, she was making hats with them and they were sitting on her knee. She opened up and came into her own.

"It was great - I don't want this to stop."

Glyn Hughes, 84, suffered a stroke 15 years ago and has trouble with his speech.

Day centre staff said he sometimes gets frustrated and angry with himself, and were worried about how the children would respond to him.

But they were surprised by the results.

Bangor University psychologist Nia Williams explained that, like Mr Hughes, the children cannot rely on their speech, so they were able to understand his gestures and hand movements.

Ms Williams added: "As a result, by the end of the week, Glyn managed to use more language ​​than usual and started phrasing clearly.

"The result was extraordinary, but shows the psychological benefit of bringing children and older people together."