"Residents have loved writing and receiving letters from the school children over the last school year."
Wendy Stokoe, the manager of Ravenstone
Residents from Ravenstone Care home, on St Andrews Road, have been making personalised ‘'pom pom key rings', as thank you presents, for their pen pal chums at nearby Chawson Community First School.
The Ravenstone pen pal scheme was created to ensure residents stay connected with the local community as there are many proven benefits to positive engagement with younger generations.
The residents now have more than 20 pen pals at the school and were invited to a special assembly just before the end of the summer term.
Wendy Stokoe, the manager of Ravenstone care home, said: “We were delighted to be invited to the school and meet our penfriends.
“With the school breaking up for summer holidays, our residents decided to make the children a personalised 'pom pom key ring' each as a thank you.
“Residents have loved writing and receiving letters from the school children over the last school year.”
The children entertained the residents with an assembly show including singing, telling jokes and gymnastics, and chatted with their creative pen pals.
Nicola Peck, Deputy Head teacher at Chawson First School, said: “Our children enjoyed entertaining and interacting with their pen pals.”
The Ravenstone pen pals are enthusiastically looking forward to sharing more letters in the new school year.
Ravenstone forms part of Larchwood Care and is managed by Healthcare Management Solutions. 79% of Larchwood Care Homes are rated as ‘Good’ or above by the CQC, above the industry average.
