Mitchell Brook pupil-pensioner partnership takes to stage

Dream Project sees pupils and elderly perform together to foster understanding between generations

Two generations of performers took to the stage to express their hopes, dreams and a new found understanding of each other.

The special performance of songs and sketches at Mitchell Brook Primary School, in Bridge Road, Willesden, was the culmination of a series of meetings and workshops between year-five pupils of the school, members of the Elders Voice drama group and Willesden Court residential home, in Garnet Road, Willesden.

The Dreams Across the Ages project, organised by Elders Voice, a Brent charity that helps the elderly live active and independent lives, brought the two groups together to organise the event in order to foster a better relations.

Adrian Kelly, who coordinated the project on behalf of the school which received an Outstanding from OFSTED for its community work last year, said: “It went really well. A lot of old people feel they don’t get respect from young people, but through the project they felt part of the community.

“You could see the children developing friendships with them as the project progressed. We will definitely be doing something like this again.”

The project went so well that some of the residents at Willesden Court will be returning for Black History month while for others attending the event was the first time they had left the home in two years.

However the dreams of the participants were as different as their ages.

While the pupils hopes included becoming the prime minister or the Queen, the seniors dreamt of a world without war or tracing their long-lost ancestors in Africa.