Intergenerational Project

Never before has the importance of intergenerational cohesion been greater profiled with many community partnerships including Safer Communities Torbay, prioritising projects to provoke integration. In a time where families are becoming increasingly distant whether it is through geography, family set up or divorce, the natural relationships between generations is being negatively affected.

During the 'You Said We Did' consultations throughout early 2010, the gaps in Torbay residents generations came to light. Unlike 2009's consultations, 2010 aimed to target the views of hard to reach residents such as the young, old, disabled and lesbian and gay groups. When questioned, many older residents mentioned that they felt intimidated by young people, labelling the majority as 'yobs' and 'hoodies'. Additionally the young people, when questioned, said that they felt many older peopel disliked them and viewed them negatively. This they argued was due to a minority of thier age group conforming to the steriotype and encouraging a negative image.

Historically Torbay has always attracted the elderly generations, drawn by the Victorian nostalgia established by the region in its heyday. It may be no surprise therefore that 43.7% of Torbay residents are over the age of 50, some 10.7% higher than the national average and 5.2% higher than the South West average. Theses statistics alone suggest that positive steps are required to ensure that the majority of local residents are integrated with their youth counterparts.

Aims and Objectives

Project Aims:

• To change pre-conditioned perceptions of generations.
• To actively promote schemes and programmes that encourage integration

Project Objectives:

1. To work with multi-agencies to challenge existing perceptions, seeking alliances with local housing schemes to endorse integration.
2. Encourage local schools and colleges to welcome the elderly into their environments.
3. Speak with both age groups to pro-actively find solutions to concerns