Ridgeway Academy Sixth Formers recognised by Lord-Lieutenant

Twelve young people from a Welwyn Garden City school have been given awards for befriending elderly residents at a care home in the town.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire visited Oakcroft Lodge Care & Nursing Home and saw the Sixth Formers from Ridgeway Academy “in action” with residents and staff.

The teenagers, who were recruited and trained by the charity YOPEY and are known as YOPEY Befrienders, have been visiting most weeks since before Christmas.

Under the watchful eyes of carers, they play games with residents and chat with them.

Several have made wonderful “intergenerational” friendships.

In an awards ceremony at the care home in Princes Avenue, Lord-Lieutenant Robert Voss CBE presented each young person with a certificate “In recognition of outstanding service as a positive role model for young people in the community through his dedication and commitment to the YOPEY Dementia Befriender scheme”.

Mr Voss said the scheme was a “win-win for everyone involved – the young people, elderly and the care home’s staff.”

The founder of the YOPEY charity, Tony Gearing MBE, who visited the academy in Herns Lane last September to inspire the sixth-formers to volunteer, gave all 12 enamel YOPEY Befriender badges “which I hope all will wear with pride. They are doing great work.”

It is hoped the young people will continue to visit until the autumn when they will recruit their replacement YOPEY Befrienders from the new sixth-formers at their school.

Sixteen-year-old Thomas Casserley spoke on behalf of all the current YOPEY Befrienders when he said he was initially unsure about how he would make friends with people so much older than himself – the average age of a care home resident is 86 – but he now really enjoyed organising games for them to do.

“I feel my soul is a little bit larger.”

Eighty-six-year-old resident Mo said the YOPEY Befrienders “keep your memory going by asking questions about the past. They tell us what they have been doing for the last week, and we give them advice.”

Mo and her fellow resident Anne, also in her 80s, said they looked forward to the YOPEY Befrienders’ visits as it was a highlight of life in the care home.

Oakview Lodge is owned by Country Court, a group of family-owned care homes.

Its regional manager Sarah Mair thanked everyone for “taking part in this wonderful scheme that brought the generations together.”

Article courtesy of WHTimes: https://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/26077754.ridgeway-academy-sixth-formers-recognised-lord-lieutenant/