Connections at Heart of Council Facilitated Intergenerational Program

Connections at the Heart of Council Facilitated Intergenerational Program in Northern Grampians Shire 

The council-facilitated intergenerational program launched in Northern Grampians Shire has gotten off to a fantastic start, with the Stawell Eventide Homes sessions designed by Eventide Homes, Blue Light DASH, and students from St Patrick’s Primary School, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback. 

Part of a broader effort to improve the health and wellbeing of older residents throughout the shire, the pilot has a strong co-design focus and has seen several programs actioned successfully this year. 

The Eventide Program is based on a project idea by Grade 5-6 DASH students at St Patrick’s Primary School. Students identified the need to connect with older people and staff and residents at Eventide Homes co-designed a series of weekly activities for students to enjoy during their visit. Classrooms alternated each week and activities ranged from cooking, basketball, boardgames, playdoh, to nerf gun shooting.   

The Mayor of Northern Grampians Shire Council, Cr Rob Haswell, and the council’s CEO, Brent McAlister, attended an Eventide Homes Intergen Session on Wednesday 27 March, and noted its success.  

“The goal of the intergenerational project is to bring younger and older people together over meaningful activities, to foster connection and relationships, increase inclusion for our older generations, encourage skill and knowledge sharing, and create age friendly communities where everyone feels valued,” said Cr Haswell.  

“Feedback from residents, students, and staff has been incredible so far; there has been positive reflections regarding student respect and inclusivity and notable improvements in social engagement and the wellbeing of the residents,” added Cr Haswell.  

Other intergenerational projects currently facilitated by the council include Shared Lunch, Shared Stories, a series of four lunches at Stawell Neighbourhood House co-designed for Grade Five students from Stawell Primary School and a group of older community members; Generation Play, a weekly intergenerational facilitated playgroup held at Stawell Neighbourhood House with residents from Eventide Homes, and; Digital Storytelling, a collaborative project between Northern Grampians Shire Council, Stawell Secondary College, St Arnaud Secondary College and Digital Storytellers that uses the power of digital storytelling as a means for secondary students to connect with older participants from the community in Stawell and St Arnaud.  

Alongside the Thrive 50+ Healthy Ageing Hubs, the Intergenerational Program is an early intervention pilot program funded by the Western Victorian Primary Health Network to better address chronic conditions within the community. 

For further information contact:  

Media & Communications – Lauren Shipman  

E-mail: lauren.shipman@ngshire.vic.gov.au