RollaDome All Skate…Intergenerational Projects 2010

RollaDome All Skate, as part of our on going community engagement we included a series of intergenerational programmes for 2010 with the aim of building communities, improving communication between younger and older people and helping to reduce the feelings of isolation and disengagement that is often experienced by older people.

Older people can occasionally find groups of young people intimidating, while young people can be dismissive of the older generation and see them as dull and boring. Developing intergenerational projects, we feel can be the ideal way to bridge the gap between the two groups.

As a Roller Skating organisation, we will off course be using roller skating, dance, events and demonstrations to engage and bridge the gap between the two groups, as it is a past time activity both generations would have experienced in one way or another and something we feel can be a start towards bring the two groups together.

Our 1^st such project for 2010 saw RollaDome All Skate’s young skaters performing to music from the film Grease for the Alzheimer Society, Hounslow, at their 50/50 Club on 16^th February 2010. This was inspired by our 1^st demonstration at Age Concern Hounslow’s AGM back in late 2009.

The event was a great success, with the young people and older people taking to the floor together, with and without skates to dance the afternoon away to the sounds of Rock and Roll, together.

The afternoon proved effective and found common threads linking both groups and began the building of relationships.