The Together Project aims to combat loneliness in older people by bringing together children with looked after adults in care settings to form long-term friendships and promote well-being

A Walthamstow charity dedicated to combating social isolation among older people is celebrating after being awarded £19,283 in National Lottery funding today.

The Together Project, which designs programmes designed to tackle loneliness and age segregation across the UK, says it will use these funds to help run its nationwide Crafting Connections programme for the next two years.

Crafting Connections is the Together Project’s arts and crafts exchange that pairs children with older adults in care settings to form long-term friendships that reduce loneliness and promote well-being.

Set up in 2022, Crafting Connections has formed 564 connections to-date in a monthly penpal exchange. Funds from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will be used to forge more friendships across generations through this innovative exchange programme.

Louise Goulden, The Together Project’s founder and CEO, says: “We’re grateful to be able to expand Crafting Connection’s reach and impact to more communities through the funding provided by the National Lottery.

“Crafting Connections was born during COVID-19 when our communities of parents, children, and care homes asked us to help facilitate other ways for them to stay in touch with each other. Three years later, participants still love designing and exchanging the crafting pack that we provide with their partners. Staying connected in each other’s lives this way makes for happier, kinder children and proud, connected older people.”

The vast majority of older adults participating in Crafting Connections are deemed ‘vulnerable’ with most unable to regularly leave the home or participate in community activities.

Sharon Lewis, an activities coordinator at participating Hazelgrove Court Care Home, says, “When the residents look at the pictures and photos, it makes their day. When they make pictures for their Crafting Connection friends it gives them a purpose.”

The Together Project is a national charity that aims to combat loneliness by connecting generations through joy-filled community activities.

In addition to Crafting Connections, the charity hosts Songs and Smiles sessions in care homes across the UK, where children, their parents and caregivers, and older people take part in a communal, musical playdate.

The charity aims to establish more intergenerational programmes to connect additional age groups across the UK in the future.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.