WEE COUNTY made some new friends when they dropped in on Parklands Care Home recently.

Children from P7 at St Mungo's RC Primary School paid a visit on Friday, August 31 as part of an intergenerational project – Back in the Day.

They met with residents at the Alloa care home and had a great time getting to know them, asking their names and sharing some information about what they enjoyed.

The children were full of smiles during the visit and explained all about their favourite foods and sports, taking along little 'passports' they had created about themselves.

The youngsters also had plenty of fun taking part in some "oomph sport", which is gentle, chair-based exercises, which saw them gently kick and pass a ball around.

P7 class teacher Lisa Downie said they came away having had a great experience, remembering the names of the residents and noticing their different personalities.

"All the comments were really positive when they came out," she said, "We were walking back to the school and they had lots of positive comments to say about it."

They enjoyed seeing how the residents exercised and are "looking forward to the next session" which took place on Friday.

In total, the pupils will pay six visits to take part in additional physical activities, along with things such as singing, baking and art.

The plan is to get even more residents involved and the hope is that the home could continue intergenerational work after the project finishes.

Terri Hoggan, activity coordinator at Parklands, was delighted by how the event went and is looking forward to welcoming the pupils again this week.

She said: “It was great – for everybody walking in it was just amazing to see.

“The kids were passing the ball to the residents, not to each other and so they all got to know their names so they were really interested.

“The residents said they had a lovely time – one of them said they were disappointed it had finished.”

As part of the project, children will be working on a history topic which is based on them researching someone from their own family, looking at the ways in which things are recorded.

The idea behind the project came from a parent who is an Alzheimer Scotland dementia nurse consultant and was looking for opportunities to create intergenerational partnerships to raise awareness of dementia.

As part of the joint working St. Mungo’s and Parklands will co-host this year’s Macmillan Coffee Morning at the care home on Friday, September 28.

In addition to this P7 families and families of the residents can join in a celebration event at the end of the project where the children will share their learning.