School Children Surprise Residents with Rainbows

Residents were delighted to each receive a special, handmade gift this Christmas.

This Christmas we came up with a wonderful way for our residents to connect with the children in their community by taking part in a special intergenerational project. We sent a box of wooden rainbows to the pupils of Mile Cross Primary school to decorate so we could present each resident with their own beautiful Christmas decoration.

But the children of Mile Cross went one step further and surprised our residents with an extra gift; a heartwarming video of them singing Christmas Carols along with photographs of how they created their artwork. We were deeply touched and so decided to present their wonderful gift at our Christmas Party, where we also played a video of Christmas messages and songs from all our friends and entertainers who couldn’t be there in person. It was a wonderful celebration!

Residents were delighted by this kind gesture. Betty (95) said: “Thank you to all the wonderful children for thinking of us” and Pamela (87) added: “I feel very special to have my own piece of rainbow.”

Andrew Hardman, from Mile Cross School said: “As our regular performance of carols for the home, by the school choir had to be cancelled, we were so glad to get involved with this project. Every teacher has had to make changes to their routine. However, when asked to take the time to help, everyone was more than happy to get involved. In turn, the children enjoyed decorating the rainbows and we hope that they bring some smiles to the residents. Despite being unable to visit, we are glad that the link between Brooklands and Mile Cross Primary is still as solid as it always has been.”

Every child, in each school year, from the youngest to the eldest helped with preparing the rainbows.

Jamie Willimott, our Lifestyle Co-ordinator who led the project said: “We have a very special relationship with Mile Cross and we are so thankful for it and for all the hard work put in to creating these rainbows and bringing so much pleasure to our residents.”