Each year, The People’s Projects gives members of the public the chance to vote for charitable organisations in their local areas. The winners can receive up to £70,000 of funding towards projects that help build connections in and across communities.
There were lots of excellent organisations in the running this year, but one in particular caught our eye…
The Together Project, through their Songs & Smiles initiative, aims to tackle loneliness and spread happiness by running intergenerational music groups. And earlier this month, they won a grant of £40,409 to put towards their meaningful work.
Before the winners were announced, we sat down with the founder of The Together Project, Louise Goulden, to find out how she came up with the idea and the impact they’ve had on local communities.
“[P]eople were sitting there – very disengaged, maybe watching TV or dozing. But when they saw the baby, it was like a light came on in the room”
Louise was in her mid-30s and working in marketing when she went on maternity leave with her first child. As she explains, it was a challenging transition…
“I love being a mum,” Louise says, “But, at the time, I also found it to be a complete life upheaval. You know, to go from working in high-pressure environments – with lots of socialising and being out all of the time – to sitting on the sofa covered in baby sick. I guess, initially, I experienced a sort of disconnect and loneliness that I hadn’t before.
“But something that gave me a real lift during that time was being out and about with my son, and somebody smiling at him in his carrier. I would use this as an opportunity to make conversation.
“One time, I was on the bus talking to a lady in her 80s for around half an hour. She told me her fascinating life story, and I could see that she was getting a lot from it as well. I got the impression that she didn’t have many people to talk to on a regular basis.”
Louise also recalls another impactful memory from this time, when she took her son to visit his great-great-aunt, who was living in a care home…
“I remember taking him in when he was a few months old. We walked into the residents’ lounge and people were sitting there – very disengaged, maybe watching TV or dozing. But when they saw the baby, it was like a light came on in the room.
“Suddenly, I had a group of babysitters; people to chat with and tell me that I had the most beautiful baby in the world (which every parent wants to hear). It was just really, really lovely.”
“It was then that I knew that this was something quite special”
After witnessing first-hand the magic that can occur when members of different generations connect with one another, Louise began to form an idea…
“Care homes often have these big communal spaces that are underutilised,” she says. “And the residents can sometimes feel as if they’re shut off from the rest of society.
“This got me thinking that there’s a real opportunity to bring groups of people (older people, new parents, and children) together who might be feeling a little lonely or isolated, and could benefit from each other’s company.”
And so, with her baby strapped to her chest, the now mother-of-two went and knocked on the door of her local care home and spoke with the manager. The idea was still only half-baked, Louise admits, but the manager ended up loving it.
The following week, armed with a bag of instruments, Louise returned with a group of parent-friends and their children – and thus, the first Songs & Smiles session was born.
“It was so magical. We all sang some nursery rhymes and had tea and biscuits. By the next week, the word had got around and the queue to come in was around the block. It was then that I knew that this was something quite special.”
After this first session, Louise decided to dedicate herself full-time to the project. She ran a crowdfunding campaign, which raised £35,000, and, in a moment of bravery, told her job that she wouldn’t be returning.
“I had been feeling a bit disillusioned with my career – and I’d been looking for something that felt more purposeful and gave me more of a sense of satisfaction,” Louise says. “And once I’d made the decision and put myself in that mindset, I saw that, actually, I could expand and grow this.”
“We’re so divided in this country along lots of different lines, but age segregation is a huge problem”
Speaking about the importance of The Together Project’s work, Louise says…
“We’re so divided in this country along lots of different lines, but age segregation is a huge problem – and the UK is one of the worst countries in the world for it.
“We all miss out by not socialising with other generations, so I had this vision for a charity that would bring people together through lots of different programmes.”
It’s true that the UK is one of the most age-segregated countries in the world. Research – such as this report published by the think tank United for All Ages in 2020 – tells us that many UK citizens have little to no contact with people of other generations outside of their families.
It suggests that this ‘age apartheid’ has had detrimental effects on our communities. These range from causing loneliness and fanning the flames of ageist views, to drawing stark divides in communities when it comes to housing and wealth.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, the report cites a number of ways that this issue can be fixed (and is already being fixed). One of the most important of these is the growing number of grassroots organisations, like The Together Project, who are working to forge these connections in their communities.
“It’s designed so that you can take part, whatever your capacity or ability”
Since it was launched back in 2017, The Together Project has grown its Songs & Smiles programme so that it now takes place all over England – with plans to extend it even further. “We want this to be truly national,” Louise tells us.
However, it’s not the only initiative under The Together Project umbrella. Crafting Connections is an arts and crafts exchange where a child and an older adult are partnered up. Every month, they each receive a topic and are asked to create a piece of artwork, which they then swap in the post via the charity.
“We have six-month-old babies on the programme, and their parents are there doing smudgy hand-prints in paint,” explains Louise. “We also have 13-year-old kids doing lovely self-portraits. It’s designed so that you can take part, whatever your capacity or ability.
“Everybody gets a friendship folder to store their friends’ artwork in. My son, Heath, was partnered with a lady called Iris, who lives in a care home in Saltburn-by-Sea. She’s 90, and he’s got a folder full of pictures and little notes that she’s written to him. He also sent her a friendship bracelet that he’d made, and she sent him a little knitted chick at Easter.”
“When you’re being creative with somebody, it becomes much more meaningful”
Being creative is an obvious through-line between The Together Project’s programmes. We asked Louise what part she thinks it can play in helping people forge connections across generations…
“I think it’s about creating a sense of purpose. We’ve actually had some care homes say that their residents have never engaged with arts and crafts before because they thought it wasn’t for them. But, actually, when you’re being creative with somebody, it becomes much more meaningful.
“There’s also a lot of evidence around the benefits of drawing, painting, and singing on our mental health. And these activities are a really easy access point. You don’t need to be an outstanding painter or singer to reap the benefits of being involved in the arts.”
Speaking about the Songs and Smiles programme specifically, Louise says…
“Music is a great leveller. Whether you’re three or 103, you know Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Even if you have dementia – like many of the residents of the care homes we visit do – you might be able to remember some of the words because they’ve been ingrained in your memory since you were young or raising children.”
“Isn’t that what life is all about? Relationships, feeling cared for, and having people to care about”
The result of The People’s Projects competition and some of the testimonies from those who’ve taken part (available online) are evidence of The Together Project’s hugely positive impact on the people and communities involved.
Though, before we said goodbye, we asked Louise what one of the stand-out moments from the whole experience was…
She says, “There was one moment recently; it makes me quite emotional to talk about it. Just before Easter, I was in the office, desperately trying to get some stuff finished up before I went away with my family. I was feeling quite stressed.
“While I was there, my colleague received a text from the granddaughter of a chap called Arthur who was living in a supported living scheme in the Northwest.
“It said that her grandfather had passed away that morning. Although she was in the depths of grief, she wanted to let us know that in his final hours, her grandfather was talking about Songs & Smiles, and he had said: ‘Can you please tell the children that I’m so sorry I can’t see them again?’
“That stopped us in our tracks and we all just cried,” Louise says. “It was really powerful to know that in his last few hours, he’d been thinking about those friendships. And isn’t that what life is all about? Relationships, feeling cared for, and having people to care about.
“I think that’s a testament to the fact that The Together Project works, and it touches people’s lives in a really impactful way.”
Final thoughts…
If you’d like to get involved with The Together Project, whether it be as a participant, volunteer, or donor, why not head over to their website to find out more?
And to read other inspirational stories, check out the real-life stories section of our website.