Members of Ballywalter  Senior Group and primary 7 children from Ballywalter Primary School have been working together on a project entitled ‘Ballywalter: Then and Now’ facilitated by the WEA as part of the Older People Learning project in partnership with the Southern Education and Library Board and the East Down Rural Community Network (EDRCN).

The group have produced a booklet recording the history of Ballywalter as told by senior residents with the help of Ballywalter Primary School pupils.  The participants, both young and old, also had the opportunity to develop their ICT, interpersonal and written and oral communication skills.”

WEA Development Officer Carolyn Hale explains, “Intergenerational projects such as this help bring generations together to learn and promote greater understanding and respect between generations.”

Beatrice Eccles, a member of Ards Senior Forum commented, "The three things that have stood out for me through participation in this project have been the enjoyable and lasting experience gained by working with the children, how my input to the project has given me a sense of worth & value and hopefully the new friendships and relationships that have been formed will continue to flourish."

One Ballywalter Primary School pupil explained, “In March our teacher Miss Roe told us we had been invited to take part in an intergenerational project the village.  We weren’t really sure what to intergenerational meant or what to expect.  We brainstormed our perceptions of older people and came up with phrases like wrinkled, grumpy and grey haired.  We should point out that our opinions have changed and we now think of older people as fun, interesting and friendly.  We learnt so much from them in the past 10 weeks.”

The group recently visited the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra and held a celebration event to celebrate their achievements in developing the booklet.

For further information on the Older People Learning project contact Carolyn Hale on (028) 9032 9718 or email carolyn.hale@wea-ni.com.