New Intergenerational Partnership at West Kirby Care Home
Lynn Billingham - 13 February 2023
The Residents at Riversdale Care Home in West Kirby, which is part of the We Care Group, were delighted to welcome some ‘little’ visitors from a local nursery school as part of a new ‘intergenerational partnership’ set up between the home and Small Steps Day Nursery in Park Road, West Kirby.
The children who visited the care home for the first time this week, came bearing flowers for all the residents as well as their favourite book to share. The children enjoyed meeting and chatting with the Residents and telling them about their favourite book. During the visit the children enjoyed a drink and a snack as well as colouring pictures for every resident. The delight on residents faces when the children arrived and throughout the visit was wonderful to see.
Riversdale Care Home’s oldest resident, Carrie Williams, who will be 100 years old in March this year, was delighted to laugh and chat with the children. She said “How wonderful, it’s brought a tear to my eye!”
Sarah Head, Assistant Manager at Small Steps Day Nursery said “It is wonderful to be
able to set this partnership up with Riversdale Care Home and it was clear how well the visit went, as the children chatted on the way back to the nursery and wanted to know when they were going to visit the lovely home again.” She continued “This is the start of what we hope will become a wonderful partnership, enabling this group of children and future groups to have fun, learn about disabilities and the elderly while getting loads of attention from the residents, which they thrive under.”
Amber Parkinson-Hill, Manager at Riversdale Care Home said “We’re delighted to set up this new partnership with Small Steps Day Nursery. Intergenerational relationships are hugely beneficial for the children and the Residents. You couldn’t fail to see the joy on everyone’s face when the children arrived.” She continued “We look forward to a long and equally rewarding relationship with the nursey. The residents are asking ‘when will the children be back,’ which is wonderful. We look forward to the nursery visiting every fortnight.”
Bernie Suresparan, Executive Chairman, We Care Group said “We have always encouraged and supported our homes to develop relationships with their local nurseries and schools as they have been proven to be particularly effective at improving residents’ activity levels and moods during visits and for days afterwards, which was very evident at Riversdale Care Home.”
Riversdale Care Home which has been part of the local community for many years, has an excellent reputation in the area and this intergenerational partnership will further strengthen that reputation as the ‘go-to-care’ home in the local area.
