Pets, companionship and ageing

Posted on behalf of Beth Johnson Foundation: 

Would you be interested in taking part in a project to explore the part that animals play as people age?

As part of our intergenerational work, we are bringing 10 young people and 10 older people together three times to explore how animals play a part in the lives of older and younger people.

We will meet once as part a workshop at St Johns Primary School for the children and older people to participate in an animal workshop.

Workshop 1, Friday 21st June, 2.30-3.30 at St Johns School.

‘Rentabeast’ is a local organisation who provide educational handling sessions. They will bring a variety of small animals to the school (e.g. praying mantis, stick insects, beetles, spiders, etc.) for participants to explore and handle where appropriate. 

Workshop 2, Wednesday 3rd July, 1.30-3.00 at Parkfield House.

Workshop two will be held at Parkfield House, BJF, where participants will be encouraged to creatively tell and share stories of their experiences of pets. 

Workshop 3, Wednesday 10th July, 1.30 -3.00 at Parkfield House.

The third and final workshop will focus on reflections of everyone’s time together and what they learned from each other. This session will involve developing and creating pictures and using stories and photographs that will form part of a simple story book around pets across the lifespan.

All three times we meet, there will be a film maker recording us to make a film of what we did and what we learned.

If you are planning on joining us, before the first session have a think about your answers to these two questions:

• What sort of pets or animals do you like best?
• If an alien landed in your back garden, how might you describe your favourite pet? What words might you use? How might you explain what your pet means to you? If you don’t have a pet now, describe what pet you have had previously.