Hello! We are Laura and Charlotte (from InCommon) and Linda and colleagues (from The Linking Network).

Over the past year or so we've been sharing info about what we're up to, helping each other out with things and having informal conversations about our hopes for the future of intergenerational work. We know we aren't the only ones who are finding it useful to connect with others like this so we thought we'd kick off 2023 by trying to extend the circle of friendship a bit to see what we can learn and who we might meet.

Wondering if this conversation for you?

If you're working on and advocating around intergenerational work with 0-18 year olds and 65+ years, then this is the place for you. We know this isn’t the whole sector and there is much brilliant intergenerational work going on to link across the lifecourse but we see this as a useful starting point for this conversation. People are of course very welcome to join if they work beyond these ages. You might be:

a care home activities coordinator
a school teacher or leader
a nonprofit working in communities, schools or care homes
a researcher or academic
a company with products or services that are bringing together old and young

No matter what you do, you will be passionate about intergenerational social contact and the role it can play in achieving a positive impact on young and old alike. And you will be interested in connecting with others who share your passion and exploring what shared challenges and opportunities you have.

This one-off, exploratory conversation is an opportunity to gather enthusiasts of intergenerational social connection to:

Rekindle connections and build new relationships in this growing sector / field of practice
Identify shared opportunities and challenges that people are facing in their different roles

A few things this one-off event is not:

This is not about total alignment or coherence - we don’t expect everyone to agree with each other on everything!
This is not a chance for any one organisation to own or dominate the space. It’s a chance for us to see the bigger whole, where the gaps and missing energy might be and how we might support one another to fulfil shared objectives.
This is not the launch of something but just an exploratory conversation. Any future gatherings or efforts will come out of the learnings of this one.

What to expect:

Alongside getting to meet lots of new people, this will be an opportunity to explore with others the answers to these sorts of questions:

What are you seeing in your intergenerational practice?
What feels easy in your work? What has changed / shifted recently?
What are the greatest needs you are meeting with your work?
What needs are you unable to meet at the moment? Why?
If you had a magic wand, what would you change in your day to day / month to month work that would transform your ability to achieve your intergenerational vision?

And we'll finish by considering what these conversations have revealed to us all: What are the patterns we’re noticing? What is surprising about what we hear? What are our shared opportunities?

Our hope is that by coming together to explore these areas we'll feel more connected to others in the intergenerational space, and more equipped to continue conversations around how we can all keep growing intergenerational work across the UK.

Joining The Dots: A get-together for intergenerational practitioners