Extracts from visit reports by YOPEY Befrienders
AGE OF WISDOM
“Douglas is 96! He spoke about his wife but exclaimed that she isn’t in heaven because there is no such thing as god and that we live on a dying world so he is leaving at the right time before it can get any worse/“
“I took part in a quiz with residents. The questions were quite hard – it seems the residents' general knowledge is much better than mine, and that they were having a good time.”
“We discussed the news & the current political climate, eg whether 16 & 17 year-olds should vote? The residents thought it was a bad idea to allow us to vote because we are not yet mature enough.”
“Care home resident Margaret is from South Africa. She was teaching me how to say some words in Afrikaans. She loved teaching me & I enjoyed learning. Pretty cool!”
“Nora said I have lovely legs & should ‘flaunt them’. She came 2nd in a 'Miss Beautiful Legs' when she was young. Nora is amazing – she is 95, virtually blind, but has an incredibly positive personality.”
“We talked to Margaret. I say talked; we couldn’t get a word in. She showed us her cookbook. It was clear that she liked to cook – the recipes were very detailed.”
“I compared roles with Eva, Mary, Pam & Evelyn. We decided I have much more freedom as a young woman today than they had when they were young. As I left everyone said goodbye & thanked me for such an interesting conversation.”
AND DEMENTIA AWARE
“I sat with a resident. She wasn't talkative but clearly liked having someone to sit with because whenever I went to sit with another resident, she would always call me back.”
“Cath told me about a memory. There was a table with a carpet on top of it. Cath had tea but assured me that the tea tasted fine despite the carpet. I went along with this as Cath clearly believed it.”
“A resident asked me about her old boyfriend & what I knew about his past. I just carried on with the conversation & tried to avoid saying anything that could upset her.”
WALKABOUT
“I went for a walk around the care home with Mira, who told me she was trying to find her way home. We did several laps before Mira forgot what she was doing & sat down in the lounge.”
The four initiatives are:
• Young people write open letters to care home residents via YOPEY. We will share these letters with many care homes to try to find each young person a penpal. However, even if you do not get a penpal, we know all our letters are read by or to residents and are showing the elderly that young people are thinking about them during a time they have been more isolated than ever. For more information about this initiative visit our Facebook page @IwanttohelpCareHomeResidents.
• Young people compile activities for care home residents to do, such as crosswords, word searches and riddles. We like the activities to be illustrated with images, especially ones created by the young person or royalty-free or uncopyrighted photographs.
• Young people make short videos to entertain the elderly. YOPEY puts the videos into YOPEY Virtual Variety Shows. As well as traditional variety acts such as musicians, singers and dancers, young people are also making videos of interesting places, their holidays and pets. YOPEY will consider any video that is under 5 minutes, not offensive and could spark reminisces by the elderly. For more information visit our Facebook page @YoungEntertainElderly and watch finished shows on YouTube by searching YOPEY Virtual Variety Shows.
• Young people make art to decorate care homes.
Sometimes these initiatives cross over. For example, a young man made a video of himself leading exercises that residents could do while seated. A young woman videoed herself in time-lapse drawing a picture for residents to colour in.
If your school or sixth-form college is interested in taking part email hello@yopey.org with your name, job title, school and telephone number. Ideally this should be a direct line or mobile.
If your group of students is accepted on to the scheme, they can register on app.yopeybefriender.org to compile a record of their volunteering to add to their CV. Your school or sixth-form college can request a record of all your students’ volunteering to show Ofsted.