Team’s Children Volunteer to Brighten Someone Elses Day

There is something very magical about seeing children mixing with older people.  It’s hard to describe, but if we had to, we’d say it’s a shared level of compassion, acceptance and mutual respect.  Add in the magic of Christmas, and you have an instant recipe for success.

Fresh from the merriment of our Children’s Christmas party, eight young people and two members of our Education and Support Service in the Yorkshire and East Midlands region paid a visit to Rose Cottage Nursing and Residential Care Home in Sheffield, where we put on a Christmas party for the residents.

Starting with a Christmas sing-along, everyone young and old joined together to sing some Christmas classics.  Requests were taken, songs were destroyed, but hearts were warmed!  H, age 7 stole the show, and did a great job of covering up those of us who weren’t so good at staying in key.  Following this, N led a game of Play Your Cards Right, J ran a raffle, and H shared an amazing Christmas poem, which he had written especially for the visit.

Our volunteers programme is designed to give children the opportunity to try new things, give something back to others, and consider possible employment options for the future.  The latter definitely occurred, as one of our young people said that she would now consider working in an older people’s care home in the future after volunteering.

We are extremely grateful to the residents and staff at Rose Cottage who made us feel so welcome. We are also tremendously proud of our young people, who stepped out of their comfort zones, and challenged themselves to brighten someone else’s day.

Would you like to join Team Fostering as a foster carer and give a young person to opportunities like this, get in touch by calling 0800 292 2003 or complete our online enquiry form here.