Tricia goes on air!

Our Service Development Officer Tricia was recently interviewed about her life and work choices by Joe Lockyer from Southampton Hospital Radio.

In the interview Tricia described to Joe the impact that our multigenerational clubs are having on all ages. She also said how grateful we are for all the partners who have helped us to get these clubs off the ground.

Opportunities

When asked what led her to work for us, Tricia explained: “A friend sent me a job description and I went to find out about it. The advertised job didn’t suit me, so I told Annie the Manager: ‘I’m good at taking opportunities to start new things, bringing people together to make it happen but I’m not good at admin.’

“It turned out that there was another job that hadn’t yet been advertised, which involved exactly those elements.

“On my first day walking into work, a Bible verse popped into my head saying: ‘he sets the lonely in families.’ I found it later in the psalms.

Generations together

“Knowing that about 70% of our service users are older adults, I started exploring how to bring the generations together, because children often move away from parents for work and have their families in different places, so the generations become quite disconnected.

“Not long after, Annie and I went to meet Father Ross from St Patricks catholic church, because he’d suggested that we might be able to work together.

Woolston Friendship Club

“He mentioned that there was a primary school on the same plot as the church and so Woolston Friendship Club was born.

“Since then, we’ve worked with another four primary schools, both universities and have two projects with sixth formers. It’s been a joy to see the impact on young and old and in-between.

Connecting

“Some of the children have cried when their project finished; another project massively increased the confidence of children with anxiety or who are neurodivergent and, in all cases, there have been older people who have loved connecting with the young, restoring their own self-confidence and breaking down fears and preconceptions.”

Listen in

Tricia was featured on Joe’s show on Thursday, October 10, 2024, at 7pm. You can find out more here.

Photo with thanks to Tim Kenyon Photography.

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