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Intergeneration day

Summary

Tension in some areas of Bolton have arisen between younger and older people. Older people are experiencing anti-social activity from younger people on some estates.

Bolton Safer Mediation Service organised an ‘intergeneration day’ bringing together both young and old to get to the heart of the problems and share concerns.

Key learning

Councils, police forces and housing organisations need to understand that the perception of anti-social behaviour is often higher than actual incidents of anti-social behaviour
Bringer older and younger people together to discuss concerns can often be difficult, but if the right, experienced people are leading the process the benefits and outcomes can be very positive.
All relevant agencies should be involved in the process
Always try to have a ‘hook’ to get people to attend. This may include food, activities, celebrities, good venue and time, giveaways etc.

Background

Crime figures and perceptions of anti-social behaviour in Bolton have reduced over recent years. However there are still concerns relating to older peoples fears and perceptions of young people being involved in anti-social activity.

The BSafe Partnership in Bolton has highlighted relatively high levels of complaints relating to juvenile nuisance. Some of the problems relate to groups of youths congregating in areas such as shopping-malls and precincts and residential areas.

Police have issued some ‘stop and account’ sanctions and housing have received and dealt with complaints of nuisance. Tonge Moor neighbourhood was identified as a priority neighbourhood for juvenile nuisance.

What we did

Officers from Bolton Mediation Service, Bolton at Home, Police and Youth Services met to discuss organising an ‘Intergeneration Day’ for young and older people.

The local youth club ‘Castle Hill' was agreed as the venue for the day.

Bolton at Home identified and met members of the local residents association and other groups to discuss issues and determine who might be interested in the event. Mediation officers and youth workers also met with young people in the area to discuss their concerns and ask them to attend the event. The date and time of the event was agreed with the residents.

It is important to gain the trust of everyone involved in the discussions and offer reassurances of what to expect from the event.

The older people were offered free transport to and from the event, home made food and a tour of the youth club facility. The young people were offered home made food, rewards of chocolate and sweets and an agreed number of hours go-carting after the event. Mediation officers drew up an action plan for the day.

Nineteen young people aged between 14 and 19 years old and nine older people aged over 60 attended the event.

The morning session included a getting to know each other session and asked individuals what they like about where they live and what their favourite books and places are. This was a good way of getting to know what young and old have in common. Responses were written on a flip chart for all to see.

Group work was facilitated by officers where exchanges about concerns in the area were discussed. This gave an opportunity to examine common areas of concern for both old and young as well as individual issues. The concerns identified will range from anti-social behaviour, fear of crime to environmental issues and traffic concerns. .

Lunchtime included a tour of the youth facility and some of the older residents took the opportunity to enjoy the facilities including the boxing ring and MC equipment. The young people also read out a poem that they had written for the event.

One young male who is particularly disruptive was persuaded to be involved and is given the responsibility to write on the flip chart in the afternoon session.

The afternoon session discussed possible solutions to some of the problems identified. Particularly the issues relating to anti-social behaviour and how younger and older people could show more tolerance to one another. These solutions were written on a flip chart and form part of the feedback process to other agencies as appropriate.

The main aim of the day was to improve relationships and communication between young and older people in the neighbourhood.

Outcomes

Questionnaires were completed by all attendees and the feedback from the day was very positive.

Comments from attendees:

‘it was great, like spending time with my grandma’
‘loved being able to laugh with young people’
‘good to meet young people and hear their fears about today’

Some older residents originally had fears and concerns about some of the young people initially but these were removed as the day progressed. Ironically it is the young people who mention one or two individuals being disruptive throughout the day.

All attendees say they would attend future intergeneration events.

Relationships between young and older people were developed as a result of the event and hopefully these will continue long into the future.

Key personnel and material resources

The success dependended on the expertise and commitment of the Safer Mediation Officers who led on the organisation and delivery of the project. Other key personnel are youth leaders and housing staff who ensured attendance from residents and young people by developing trust and confidence.

Joint funding was secured from agencies for the lunch, travel expenses and go-carting activity for the young people. This was the only expense incurred as the venue was free and staff-time was incorporated into normal work activity.

How would we do it better

The event was poorly attended by officers and it would have been better if more older people had attended. Neither the police nor area-coordinators attended the event, although they were invited.

Only one local councillor attended. It may be better to invite officers to attend part of the day and raise awareness of the needed commitment from agencies.

Feedback suggests less consultation and more joint activity for future events, possibly including more creative, artistic and interactive work.

Forward planning is vital to the success of intergeneration days and in the future more time will be given to planning of the events.

Next steps

Plans are in place to hold more of these events and build on the successes they have achieved thus far.

Further information

Name: Sylvia Simpson
tel: 01204 335466
email: sylvia.simpson@boltonathome.org.uk

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