Hands-on experience

Students from The Royal National College for the Blind have been getting hands-on experience in their chosen subject by working with residents at Brockington House.

Young people from the Venns Lane-based college have been visiting Brockington as part of the course they are taking in Massage and Complementary Therapies.

They have provided Indian head, feet and hand massages, on the ladies and gentlemen who live in the home.

It forms part of an intergenerational care initiative introduced by Brockington House as part of its resident activity programme.

Jim Wallis, a Lecturer at The Royal National College for the Blind, said: “The students are going to work with lots of different people during the careers, so being able to help and interact with all generations is an important part of their training.

“They are enjoying their visits to Brockington House and it’s clear to see how the ladies and gentlemen are benefiting too, not just on the physical side, but mentally as well through their interactions with the students.”

Brockington House Activities lead Tara Chatterly-Russell said: “Over the last couple of years we have had individual students from the college coming into the home to undertake work experience so we thought it would be even more beneficial to invite the whole group.

“Our ladies and gentlemen very much look forward to the visits and it’s become an important part of our intergenerational care activity programme.

“Some of our residents don’t have, or see, grandchildren or great grandchildren so this is a great way of helping them mix and interact with the younger generation.”

The intergenerational care programme started at Brockington House in 2023 when students from Hereford College of Art and Hereford Sixth Form College took part in what is believed to have been a national first – a portrait artist of the year competition held in Brockington House Care Community.

This involved the ladies and gentlemen who live at the home acting as models as the young artists used a variety of different mediums including charcoal, paints, ink and digital to create the portraits. Such was the impact that the student visits have now become a regular part of our art and craft classes at Brockington House, and the second portrait artist of the year competition took place recently.

Intergenerational care is defined as ‘planned ongoing activities that purposefully bring together different generations in shared settings to share experiences that are mutually beneficial‘.

The concept began in Japan in 1976 but is still a relatively new phenomenon in the UK. It has been proven to have multiple benefits. It helps the language development, reading and social skills of the children/young people and older people are less likely to suffer loneliness through regular interaction with the younger generation. It also helps stimulate memories for people with dementia.