James, one of our older volunteers, tells us about his experience of taking part in InCommon’s intergenerational programmes.

I’ve not taken part in anything like this before, so I was intrigued. I’m a social person and I like meeting new people, but I don’t have that many interactions with young people. There’s my grandnephew who’s 18, but he’s not that young any more!

The workshops are a great joy. I always leave them feeling uplifted. They have definitely enhanced my life and others too. In this retirement home, we’re 43 or 44 elderly (or not so elderly people - some of us are quite young), but we are all living separate lives so it’s wonderful to get the chance to meet others and be social. It’s an organic thing and it's really nice.

It’s great for the kids to be able to relate to different types of people that they might not normally meet. They like to know about what we’ve been up to and our past. They are very curious - curious in the sense that they want to know more (in latin ‘cur’ means why). The children are a bright bunch. They’re very clued up and they’ve taught me to be humble.

I know we won’t work with the same children next time, but you never know when we might bump into each other. The French have an expression: le monde est petit - the world is a small place.