What a Party

Last year our club donated £250 to Quilters School to support their Dementia Awareness and Pen Pal projects.  So, Peter Greene and Stephen King were delighted to accept an invitation from Maureen Lee, the lady who oversees the projects, and from Headteacher, Mike Wade, to join a get-together of school children with their grown-up Pen Pals.

Excited Children

Stephen reports "As I walked up to the school, I was welcomed by two children who introduced themselves and escorted me, Peter and one of the visiting elderly adults who had just arrived, into the school. We were taken to a desk where three very efficient juniors gave us name badges, and noted the name of the adult so that she could be linked up with her Quilters Junior School Pen Pals.

The school hall was full of excited children sitting at long tables, and eagerly anticipating meeting their pen pals.  As we entered, we were offered a plate of hot sausages wrapped in bacon, and were taken to a table. One by one the children came to find their pen pals and animated conversations ensued between them.

The lady near me had four pen pals, one from each of years three, four, five and six. She told me she has the same junior each year so she gets to know the child well as they progress through the school. By the time they get to year six, the letters are very informative, telling her all about their school and personal lives. For the lady I sat opposite, it was her first meeting with her one pen pal, and she was excited to put a face to the child with whom she had been corresponding. 

We were served cups of tea and biscuits at our tables by the children, although to their disappointment, we were not allowed to share the biscuits or cakes with them due to the risk of allergic reaction.

Encouraging Kindness and Understanding

As I did not have a pen pal, Mike Wade introduced me to one of the year six RotaKids, who told me all about the pen pal project and a lot else about the school. I was very impressed.

Mike Wade made an impromptu speech thanking everyone for their participation in the scheme. He emphasised its benefits in bringing the old and young together, for encouraging kindness and understanding, and he hoped the children would take the lessons learned into their adult lives.  

Towards the end of the afternoon the school choir entertained us with a variety of Christmas songs including ‘While Shepherds Watched’ and ‘Away in a Manger’ and finished with a rousing rendition of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’.

It had been such an enjoyable and heart-warming experience. The children were so well behaved, good mannered, friendly and outward going.  What a pleasure it was to be with them.

The Children are a Delight

Maureen Lee, the lady who oversees the RotaKids project at Quilters, together with the Pen Pals and Dementia Friends initiatives, passed on to me some of the thank you messages she had received from adult pen pals:-
‘…I was welcomed and looked after from beginning to end’
‘…All the children were so well behaved.’
‘…Please commend the school on the children. So often these days children are criticised and not encouraged. The children at Quilters were a delight, making sure everyone was looked after, lovely manners they all played their part in making the afternoon so enjoyable for everyone who came along. It was a pleasure to be there.’
‘…I was very impressed with everything – from the welcome at the gate to the lovely singing at the end. Of course, the special part was being able to meet with our pen pals. I have three girls … and we had a very good two-way chat for the whole time. What lovely girls at a lovely school.’

By Steve King