The 'Better Together' project seeks to examine an inevitable and very real aspect to all of our lives: ageing and social issues surrounding ageing. This project is born out of a genuine increase in life expectancy and the central question posed throughout is : How can we raise awareness amongst our young people that they should not only become active lifelong citizens, but that they must embrace meaningful and equitable engagement with a much older generation- many of whom hold irreplaceable skills and wisdom! This project seeks to bridge the gap between different ends of the age spectrum. Focal points will include: the promotion of digital technology and enabling access to all through the creation of 'Digital Ambassadors 'and 'Silver Surfer' Clubs ; debunking age myths though debate and art and music; reflecting and valuing the experiences and views of young and old in a positive and fun way through cookery challenges, role reversal and archive events. This proposal builds on an existing link between Ballard School and Instituto Tecnico CC through a previous EU scheme (Comenius, 2013-15: Citizens of Europe: Past, Present and Future). The 'Better Together' project seeks to involve a core of 20 student and teacher participants: the students will be aged between 14-16 years old and in addition, there will also be participants from the wider community- from care homes and age-specific charities. As we will be working closely with charities, we really hope that there will be tangible and concrete results which will offer positive impact on the lives of both the older and younger participants- perhaps in the forging of digital and charitable links, maybe even in the opening of minds and certainly, we hope, in the making of special memories for all those involved.
The 'Better Together' project has always sought to examine an inevitable and very real aspect to all of our lives: ageing and the social issues which surround ageing. And, given what the world is currently contending with, in the form of the Coronavirus pandemic, the context and significance of this project's core objectives have never been more important, or more in demand, as we try to repair broken lives and communities in every nation in our world. This project was born out of a genuine increase in life expectancy and the central question posed throughout was : how can we raise awareness amongst our young people that they should not only become active lifelong citizens, but also embrace meaningful and equitable engagement with a much older generation? Many of whom still hold irreplaceable skills and wisdom and wish to be at the beating heart of their community. And now, as the Project draws to a close, its central objectives- to bridge the gap between young and old in our specific communities- have been realised. With the creation of links with two care homes (in New Milton and San Miniato) and the establishing of the Silver Surfers Digital Club we have tangible results - achieved through our planned activities. The horizontal priority of 'open education and innovative practices in a digital era' were tackled through the overriding success achieved by the Silver Surfer Digital Club. With students assuming the role of digital ambassadors, open access for all was achieved as students impacted positively on the lives of older people by enabling their connections to the modern world to flourish and grow. Students were also involved in the creation of training materials for the over 65 age group and not only in the efficacy of those training materials, but also of their own pedagogy! The care home visits and activities created a dialogue between young and old prompting a celebration of cultural heritage and pride in the past ( with the preservation of memories), but it also looked ahead with animated debate about society down the ages and the pace of development in the modern day world, truly identifying with the project's intentions of creating 'lifelong and engaged citizens'. Participants have been involved from a wide cross-section of our communities: from elderly care home residents and their dedicated staff to mayors, town councillors, charitable organisers, war veterans, parents, head teachers and other teaching staff, historians, museum curators and members of the public wishing to extend their digital know-how. Inevitably there will be challenges, hitches and adaptations with any long term partnership project and KA229 Better Together has been no different from others in this regard. For example, the musical aspect originally planned for Activity C2 became a more diluted element and yet, its presence was still felt during the Hard Rock Cafe visit, the traditional Barn Dance at the Show-case evening and the Christmas carol concert events- used as opportunities for surveying opinion and collecting data. Art-related visits and tasks, food tastings, cookery challenges, role reversal events (with young people taking on the role of 'expert' in terms of their digital instruction) and archiving, achieved through student Q&A, article response, questionnaires, interviews and audits, were all events scheduled throughout the core C1, C2 and C3 Activities and they have all been undertaken as per the original plan. In terms of the long term impact of The Better Together project, we hope that our Silver Surfers Digital Club will secure a more permanent home in the library or a coffee shop in New Milton, where it can continue to flourish and to fulfil its civic duty in meeting the digital needs of the town's older members. It is also hoped that a lasting legacy of the Project may be in the future twinning of the towns of new Milton and San Miniato in the spirit of cultural celebration with biennial exchanges, featuring old and young delegates. Our care home link will also be secured moving forward through a wealth of other initiatives such as Duke of Edinburgh scheme and links with work placement schemes.