TEENAGE volunteers have been helping elderly care home residents recall their pasts by making family history posters.
Members of the Safe in Tees Valley National Citizenship Service (NCS) spent time at Ingleby Care Home, in Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees, to run the activity.
They asked residents about their childhoods, previous jobs, when they got married and other milestones in their lives.
The group, all aged 15 to 17 years old, then drew timelines of the residents’ lives, adding pictures to the posters to symbolise special moments.
One of the residents who took part, Sylvia Day, 75, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed myself and the activity stopped me being anxious.
“I loved the idea and it was nice getting to know the youngsters as much as letting them know about my past.”
A second group of NCS students from Safe in Tees Valley, an independent community safety partnership, visited the home to participate in exercise activities.
They joined in with the chair-based exercise class in the home’s garden, when a specialist instructor had the residents and teenagers stretching and dancing.
Kirsty Walsh, activities coordinator at Ingleby Care Home, on Lamb Lane, said: “Our residents definitely put the youths to shame on the fitness side.
“The residents also really enjoyed spending time with the students, who were really interested in the lives that the residents had led.
“We’re already looking forward to the next visit from the Safe in Tees Valley NCS teams and can’t thank them enough for choosing Ingleby Care Home.”