BOOK-MAKING care home residents in Saltburn-by-the-Sea have published a collection of children’s stories inspired by an intergenerational friendships project.
Residents at Hazelgrove Court Care Home, on Randolph Street, have been taking part in Crafting Connections – run by charity The Together Project.
The initiative, which sees the elderly and children take part in joint creative activities to boost wellbeing and reduce loneliness, encouraged the residents to write short stories for their young Crafting Connections friends.
The stories were so well received that the home’s activities coordinator, Sharon Lewis, arranged for them to be printed as a professionally bound book.
The finished collection, titled Our Stories for our Crafting Connections Friends, has now been published and includes original tales written by residents aged from their 80s to mid‑90s.
Among the stories featured is The Panda That Asked Why, written by 92‑year‑old resident Joyce Tibbett. She said: “I wanted to write a story about a panda as I know this is Iris, my Crafting Connections friend’s, favourite animal.”
Fellow resident Joyce Baxtrem, 95, based her story on her young partner too. She said: “Sam has been my friend for a long time, and he is like a superhero to me, cheering me up every month, so I wrote about a superhero called Sam.”
Another story in the book is The Frog Who Wanted To Sing, written by 94‑year‑old Ellen Else. She said: “I love to sing, so wanted to write a story about singing, so wrote the frog who wanted to sing.”
Sharon Lewis said the project had been a highlight for everyone involved. She added: “Our residents came up with some amazing stories, so we decided to have them made into a book.
“They are very excited about seeing their stories in print and we are going to send a copy to each one of their Crafting Connections friends as a gift.”
One of those friends is eight‑year‑old Iris Sutherland, who received Joyce Tibbett’s panda story. Iris said: “I really like the story that Joyce sent me because my favourite animal is a panda and it keeps asking questions – it was a funny story.”
Iris’s mum, Alex Sutherland, who works for The Together Project, said: “The thing they loved about the story was that the panda was just like Iris – always asking questions and looking at the world in a funny way.”
Hazelgrove Court Care Home plans to continue taking part in Crafting Connections, with residents already discussing ideas for future projects.
Sharon added: “Our residents absolutely love anything that keeps them connected to the outside world so Crafting Connections is the perfect project for them.”