The Nursery in Belong joins intergenerational research project

The Nursery in Belong Chester, a unique fully integrated nursery within a care village, will join a new UK research project exploring the benefits of bringing young children and older people together to enjoy shared learning experiences when it opens in Chester city centre later this year.
Run by the nursery’s operator, national charity Ready Generations, The Born4Life project connects inspirational settings from across the UK with the support of researchers. Together they will explore how relationships between people of different ages promote health and wellbeing for everyone involved. It will focus on building meaningful relationships through creative activities and everyday experiences, such as gardening, storytelling, nature walks and cooking.
Along with participating nurseries in Liverpool, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Stirling and the Outer Hebrides, The Nursery in Belong Chester will serve as a setting for research by academics from the University of Stirling, the University of Northumbria and Liverpool John Moores University. This will involve researching how connection through a variety of sustained experiences improves self-confidence, motivation and overall happiness for all participants whilst reducing any feelings of isolation and loneliness for older people.
A first for a care setting in the North West, the 25-place nursery in Belong Chester will provide a high-quality care and learning environment for children from birth to five years, six days a week. Village and nursery teams will work closely together to create a truly shared environment where children and older people can learn together and build an active, intentional and collaborative community that includes every generation.
Ready Generations advocates and investigates the benefits of connection between generations through education, the promotion of lifelong learning and experiences that place healthy relationships at the centre of everything.
As designer of the project, Ready Generations founder Sue Egersdorff said: “We’re really excited about this unique opportunity to learn together across a number of pioneering settings and to share best practice as the project develops. Intergenerational interactions have already been shown to have extensive benefits for the health, wellbeing and cognition of both young and old. The project is so important at this moment in time when relationships and connection have been incredibly difficult for many families.”
Belong’s Chief Operating Officer, Stacey McCann, added: “This represents a reaffirmation of Belong’s commitment to intergenerational practice. We’re looking forward to partnering with other providers as part of this innovative study and acting on the findings to enhance future best practice.”
Picture: Intergenerational activities at Belong Morris Feinmann