Generations Together

Written by Administrator | 17 March 2010

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About Generations Together

The Generations Together project stemmed from the fact that from 2008 there are now more people over the age of 65 than there are young people under 16. The government is therefore seeking to address the issues likely to arise in the way that generations interact due to this change in demographics.

Acton Community Forum is been working in partnership with Ealing Council and local voluntary organisations on this pilot project that is centred in South Acton. The objective is to actively break down barriers, dispel negative perceptions and promote greater understanding and respect between the older and younger generations.

The Generations Together project brings young people aged 25 and under and older people over the age of 50 together whilst taking part in funded, enjoyable activities. In turn this creates opportunities for both groups to learn together, learn from each other and develop new skills. It also encourages people to volunteer.

The areas of activity are;

• IT and Media: e.g. computer and internet skills, photography, web design, film making
• Health: e.g. community gym, gardening and growing, cooking
• Culture and Leisure: e.g. dance, day trips, fashion, art
• Safety: e.g. At risk youth volunteering and interacting with older people

The Generations Together scheme is inclusive and plans for sustained community cohesion so please contact Acton Community Forum if you wish to get involved.

Celebrating Generations Together

Come celebrate the end of Generations Together at Twyford CE High School on Saturday 19th March 2011. There will be presentations, a salsa band, exhibitions and slide shows. Admission is free. For more info click here and here

Silver surfers' Generations Together project is featured in the November issue of 'Around Ealing' magazine (page 13), make sure you keep a look out.

Newsletter August 2010

The Generations Together pro-ject in Ealing is now past the half way mark and a lot has happened since last October. In 2009 the London Borough of Ealing was chosen to partici-pate in this 18 month demon-strator programme working in partnership with Acton Com-munity Forum. So far around 31 organisations have been involved in the project, 17 of whom are partner organisations funded to deliver activities.

The necessity for this project arose because since 2008 in this country, there are more people over 65 years old than there are young people under the age of 16. It is expected that this sta-tistic will continue. Another noted observation is that young and older people are socially poles apart with little to no relationship. For the purposes of the project young people are defined as under 25 and older people are over 50 years old.

The aim of the Generations Together project is to address and avoid the negative conse-quences of age segregation. It will promote social change and increase awareness across the generations.

The previous labour govern-ment wanted to do what they could to break down barriers saying, It is crucial for the long term health of our society that older people get the chance to pass down the wealth of insight and understanding to younger generations, and that they recognise the skills and talents of our young people, and learn from them too.‟

This is to be achieved by in-creasing intergenerational activ-ity as well as encouraging vol-unteering. Activities are based around 4 themes, i.e. IT/Media, Health, Culture/Leisure and Crime/Safety. Participants are able to teach, learn and share experiences together and there-fore become more socially co-hesive and aware of the positive contributions that both groups are able to make to society.

This newsletter will report intergenerational activity, upcoming events and information about how you can get involved.

Silver Surfers

Young people from Acton High School were trained last September to intro-duce older people to using computers, accessing the internet and setting up an email account. Armed with laptops and dongles, they began teaching a range of older peoples groups based in the South Acton area. So far the list includes groups from Centre for Armenian In-formation and Advice, United Anglo Caribbean Association, Michael Flan-ders Day Centre, Oke Osisi Afrika,Oaktree Older People‟s Club, Acton Asian Association and Michael Flanders Day Centre.

Groups initially had 7 hour long sessions and everybody is looking forward to the next instalment of 12 sessions per group beginning in September 2010 when the school year begins.

After attending classes at Harleyford Manor, Pam can now check websites and is exploring ways to purchase her own computer.

Older people from West London Somali Society were also included in the silver surfer programme at the Oaktree Community Centre, as pictured below. They were taught by young Somali volunteers from the Tallo Centre who were able to communicate in their spoken lan-guage.

5 PENCE TO GO THE CINEMA?!!!

Young people from the Bridge Project learned that it is good to give as they joined day residents at Michael Flanders Centre in Acton. Led by Cheryl Burke of the SPARC Foundation and as part of the Generations Together Project young people learned from senior citizens about local cinemas from the past. They were surprised to discover that Acton had 5 cinemas and the last to be demolished was on the site of Morrisons on the high street. They were also amazed when told that it only cost 5p to go the cinema and people would often go 3 times a week!

Prior to attending the event young people attended 10 workshops to learn about a number of community issues including learning about dementia and the importance of learning from seniors citizens in the community.

The Bridge project is based in North Acton and covers Leamington and Friary Park estates. During the project the young people demonstrated a commitment to learning from the commu-nity by organising 30 bags of shopping to give to senior citizens at the day centre. This act of giving something back was initiated by a well being project organised by Catalyst Communi-ties Housing Association. Young people decided to demonstrate how they could do this and include older people.

One young person commented how much they enjoyed the event by saying "I didn't think it would be much fun but I really learnt something and they gave us bear (a lot!) of jokes". This is a clear example of how the Generations Together project can make a real difference as the young people went in slightly apprehensive but came out brimming from the experience.

Well done to all the young people from the Bridge Project and thanks to everyone at the Mi-chael Flanders Centre who gave their time to share their knowledge and experiences.

Relationships forged

The young people of APPLE PLAY have been building positive, sustainable, intergenerational relationships with local resi-dents living in sheltered housing across four sites. Led by Vicki Barker, a range of events have taken place over the last six months including gardens being improved, coffee mornings and barbecues. The older people are also involved in the 'Earliest Memories' art project co-ordinated by Sharon Walters from APPLE that has been taking place over the summer. It is based around the idea of earliest memories where residents recall their experiences which are recorded or written down to create art work (i.e. collages) which will be added to the tree project in Acton Park.

Ron Kirkwood wrote to APPLE saying that the "residents would like to express our appreciation to Generations Together and all the young people who worked so hard to transform the garden...This heralds an exciting dimension to bring-ing „Generations Together‟ and must be applauded and encouraged...The young people who came to Harleyford were a credit to APPLE and their school . It was a privilege to welcome them to our home."

Ministerial visit

 In March 2010, Dawn Primarolo, MP for Bristol South and the former Minister of State for Children visited the project with representa-tives from the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

There were a number of intergenerational activities taking place at the Oaktree Community Centre that she was able to observe includ-ing a silver surfers session, a Somali discussion group and latin rumba therapy by Nexos Latino America-nos. There was also a photography session led by Theatre Studio West which Ms Primarolo actually took part in. She then visited the United Anglo Caribbean Centre and the Tallo Centre where she was able to see other participating organisations.

Deeply impressed by what she saw, Dawn Primarolo stated that: "The Generations Together project in Ealing is inspirational, bringing together local communities and involving both young and older people from diverse cultures. It shows what can be achieved by communities working together to break down barriers between young and old and helping to improve their quality of life. I am really encouraged by what I saw in Ealing. We are committed to supporting similar projects across the country which will make a real difference to local communities."

Launch of South Acton community fitness centre

In June 2010 South Acton Community Fit-ness Centre was officially opened by Ra-jinder Mann, Mayor of Ealing. There was a tour of the centre as well as an opportunity to try out some of the activities on site.

In attendance was Angie Bray MP, Antony Bewick-Smith, Deputy CEO of Ealing CVS and Carol Tucker, Community Liaison for John Lewis Partnership.

The Centre has been participating in Gen-erations Together since October 2009. Ses-sions are 5pm to 7pm on Wednesdays and 3pm to 5pm on Fridays.

Older people are trained by young people aged between 16 and 25 who are given the

opportunity to train for NVQ level 2 in Fitness Training. This is all directed by experienced fitness instructors.

Services on offer to older people are health advice, individual training plans, holistic massage, salsa, yoga, stretches and Wii Sport.

To take part and for more information please contact Jim Wong by calling 020 8280 2233 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Celebration of volunteering

The Centre for Armenian In-formation and Advice (CAIA) held an evening event to cele-brate the contribution that vol-unteers make to the GT Project and the organisation. The G T Project aims to increase the number of volunteers working on intergenerational pro-grammes. Misak Ohanian, CEO of CAIA commented that "youth and elders clubs would not be possible without the vital contribution of dedicated volunteers."

CAIA is involved in 3 inter-generational activities, i.e. Silver Surfers, Days Out and Cooking, all of which have been very successful.

In February a well attended cooking workshop entitled "Tastes of Armenia" was com-pleted where older Armenian‟s taught the younger generation how to cook dishes such as Olive Bread, Lentil Soup, Humus, Mante, Taboule and Cheese Borek. In the Autumn the next course will begin so you wish to take part please contact CAIA on 020 8992 4621 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

G.t. Project mentioned in commons

The Generations Together Project at Acton Community Forum (ACF) was mentioned at Prime Minister‟s question time in July .

Angie Bray, MP for Ealing Central and Acton has been aware of projects led by ACF for some time through communications with the manager, Steve Flynn.

She asked the PM, "In South Acton, the Ac-ton Community Forum is piloting an ex-tremely good scheme called "Generations Together", which is all about encouraging each generation to pass on its own skill sets to each other; basically, it is about getting the community to help itself. Does the PrimeMinister agree that this is an excellent example of what the big society is all about?"

David Cameron replied that he agreed saying, "I have to say to Labour Members, who sort of sigh every time an Hon. Member actually mentions a worthwhile charity, voluntary body or project that is doing something in their communities, that we are going to change the way we do politics in this country. Instead of endlessly talking about the money that goes in, let us talk about the outcomes that come out. I think that that is a better way of doing things."

Ms Bray, pictured below in the House of Commons, is very supportive of the Generations Together project in Ealing and is keen to see it continue beyond the initial 18 month funding period. We are grateful to Ms Bray for profiling this project on such a high platform.

Generations Together Graduation

On Wednesday 28th April 2010, the United Anglo Caribbean Society (UACS) held an Achievement Award Ceremony to celebrate the completion of their first cooking course. It was an introduction to Caribbean cooking which began in February 2010. Members of UACS‟ older people‟s luncheon club and local young people came together to learn how to cook 6 dishes under the tutelage of Doreen Allen.

Doreen, whose career in catering exceeds 20 years, has been working at UACS for over 3 years now. She has catered in schools, at church and for a range of functions and events. She also bakes cakes for weddings and christenings. Doreen was also been nominated in the „key worker‟ section of the Pride in Our People Awards with Ealing Gazette.

The course was themed around Caribbean cooking. Students learned how to cook Curried Chicken, Brown Stew Chicken, Fried Dumplings, Scones, Sponge Cake and Sweet Potato Pudding.

The Award Ceremony was attended by over 40 friends, family and colleagues. It was celebrated with singing, speeches, laughter and the handing out of certificates to students, all of whom enjoyed their experience.

A vote of thanks was given by the Chairman of UACS, John Swan who described Doreen as an inspiration‟ in her organisation of such a successful experience for young and older people and for her idea to recognise the commitment of the students by holding this event. The ceremony was ended with a feast containing all of the dishes that were taught on the course and more, for attendees to sample.

UACS is planning another course that will start some time in Autumn. If you would like to learn how to cook desserts and Caribbean dishes whilst sharing the experience with people of another generation, please contact Sonny at United Anglo Caribbean Society, Hanbury Close, South Acton on 020 8993 3306 for further details and to add your name to the list. Candidates must be under 25 years old or aged 50 years and over. The course takes place during daytime hours and is offered free of charge.

'Welcome to Acton'

Generations Together will include a new project led by BBA Media and starting in September 2010.

'Welcome to Acton' is an innovative project that will capture for the first time accurate memories, experiences and reflec-tions of 4 migrant communities who have settled in Acton since the 1940's. BBA will be concentrating on the Caribbean community for the Generations Together project. Welcome to Acton will provide a better understanding of migrant com-munities and assist community cohesion in the local area. It will also investigate the reaction and attitudes to their arrival during that period by focussing on the following key themes:

1. The root causes and circumstances under which communities migrated in the first place

2. Why Acton?

3. The experiences of people when they first arrived in Acton?

4. How they were perceived and issues of identity particularly through the media

5. Race relations

We are looking to recruit 20 young people (aged under 25) to take a lead and research the above themes. We would like young people who will interact as well as interview local Car-ibbean people (aged over 50). The recordings will become the basis of a radio docu-drama programme that will then be edited and broadcast on Westside Radio. We will also display our findings at an exhibition based in Acton. If you are interested in taking part, know of anyone else who might be interested in the 'Welcome to Ac-ton' project or for further information please call Samantha on 020 8571 9700 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

COMING SOON

A Digital Photography workshop will be offered to older peoples groups. This is for beginners and those who have a digital camera and do not know how to use it fully. Please contact Janice on 020 8993 6158 for details or email janice @actonform.org