
It’s been a tough old year for all of us but there’s been something lovely about the way that it’s brought people together and made us all give our heads a good shake and re-evaluate what’s important in our lives.
Many of us saw our usually hectic lives take on a more serene pace and for once time was in abundance.
For those who are usually rushing from one place to the next and always up against the clock, lockdown forced us to pause and take some time to appreciate the simpler things in life.
Riding our bikes along empty road, discovering new walks nearby, cooking new recipes and chatting to our neighbours over the garden fence wee just a few of my little lockdown pleasures.
With more time on our hands many of us looked for different ways to spend our days and many people wanted to give something back to the wider community in order to contribute to the national effort to deal with the impact of Covid 19.

Looking after the older generation has been really important over the past year.
Many of our senior citizens don’t have smartphones, tablets or laptops and aren’t able to access the internet to connect with family and friends and the world around them so it’s been crucial that we find more familiar ways to reach them and stay in contact.
In the Autumn of 2020 Pimm’s and Needles received some funding from County Durham Community Foundation to trial an intergenerational pen-pal scheme.
Our vision was to engage and connect young with old to help them feel part of society, keep up their spirits and ultimately combat isolation.
Since then children from Croft C of E primary school have been writing back and forth to a group of senior Pen-pals who are members of our Silver group or residents of Eden Cottage Care Home.

The project started with letters explaining details about themselves and has progressed over the months to both age groups making cards, self-portraits, sharing recipes, poems and this month the children have planted sunflower seeds and send kits to their Pen pals to do the same with a view to sharing progress reports on the height of their sunflowers.
It’s a gorgeous project, the concept isn’t rocket science in fact it’s very simple but for some reason it’s timeless.
The excitement of receiving a hand-written receiving a letter in the post is still ‘a thing’ whatever age you are.
The anticipation of what’s inside the envelope (especially if it’s thicker than normal) is a great feeling and the joy of reading a hand written letter is a very personal and intimate experience.

All this with just a pen and paper! From our perspective it’s been really rewarding to see the benefits of the project with the lovely friendships that the two generations have forged being right at the heart of it all.
It’s obvious how much we have to learn from each other, our elders have so much experience and wisdom to pass on and the children have brought a naivety and enthusiasm which is refreshing and has most certainly been a tonic for us all during these dark times.
We hope to continue our project during the post lockdown months and are looking forward to being able to introduce the Pen Pals to each other so that they can finally meet and enjoy a chat in person being right at the heart of it all.

It’s obvious how much we have to learn from each other, our elders have so much experience and wisdom to pass on and the children have brought a naivety and enthusiasm which is refreshing and has most certainly been a tonic for us all during these dark times.
We hope to continue our project during the post lockdown months and are looking forward to being able to introduce the Pen Pals to each other so that they can finally meet and enjoy a chat in person.