Meet the children choosing to hang out with their grandfriends over gaming or scrolling

While many children spend their after-school hours gaming or scrolling, a group of Year 6 pupils from Finton House School in London are choosing something quite different in the form of weekly visits to Nightingale Care Home to spend time with their ‘grandfriends’. 

This is the heart of The Grandfriends Club – an intergenerational initiative that pairs children with older residents for shared activities, conversation and companionship. From playing Scrabble to sharing stories, these sessions create bonds that span decades and transform lives on both sides of the age divide. 

Connecting across generations 

During my visit over the summer, I attended the afterschool club and saw children playing board games, singing songs, and updating residents about their week at school. The atmosphere was warm and full of laughter.  

What struck me most was the natural ease between generations – the way children greeted residents by name, and the way residents responded with genuine joy. 96-year-old resident, Fay Garcia, summed it up beautifully: “I really love it – it’s stimulating and great to meet young children. You get to know the little group and their parents. It’s like having a new family.” 

For the pupils, these sessions offer more than just fun. They’re learning to communicate across generations, gaining confidence and developing emotional intelligence. One child explained: “It’s really fun and you can make friends – and it can boost your morale.”  

Another shared their favourite memory from Grandfriends Club: “The first day I was here, I sat next to Eric, and we just chatted about how we both like chess.” 

An enriching and safe space for all 

Older primary pupils are at a stage where enrichment and cultural understanding matter as much as academic learning. Intergenerational sessions give them a safe space to practise empathy and social awareness while fighting isolation – for themselves and the residents.  

Watch our film: building bonds after school at the Grandfriends Club

As Ben Freeman, Headmaster of Finton House School, explains: “These intergenerational moments have allowed our children to develop their wisdom, empathy and understanding, while the residents enjoy the energy, companionship and joy of youth.” 

Activities like baking Challah bread, a tradition rooted in the care home’s Jewish ethos, or celebrating festivals together expose children to customs they may not encounter elsewhere. These experiences broaden their worldview, nurture respect for diversity and teach patience, kindness and the value of community. 

Why toddlers need grandfriends too 

The Grandfriends Club isn’t the only way Nightingale Care Home connects generations. Apples and Honey Nightingale – a nursery based within the care home – brings even younger children into the mix. Opened in 2017 as one of the UK’s first co-located early years settings in a care home, it was designed to make these interactions part of everyday life. 

Founder Dr Judith Ish-Horowicz MBE HonsDEd explains: “Watching those relationships, seeing the opportunities for children to meet daily with their grandfriends and how the impact was affecting families on both sides – it just seemed like a win-win.” 

For nursery-aged children, these moments offer real-life lessons in empathy, language and social skills, while residents gain companionship and cognitive stimulation. For those who rarely see their own grandchildren, this connection fills a gap technology can’t bridge. Simple activities – from gardening to storytelling – create a rhythm of shared life that feels like family and show why intergenerational practice is such a powerful model for care. 

Pictured: Young children playing a board game with care home resident, Frankie Steuer

It’s a simple model with hugely profound benefits, showing how intergenerational practice can enrich early years education and later life care alike. 

Facilitating intergenerational sessions with care 

Behind the scenes, these sessions are made possible by a robust framework of training and accreditation – and NCFE is proud to be the only UK awarding organisation offering the qualification that enables this kind of care.  

The CACHE qualification in intergenerational practice ensures staff can deliver safe, meaningful and sustainable sessions for both young and older participants, who may be vulnerable or have specific needs. 

As Judith explained: “We approached NCFE to give us that accreditation, so we could say: this is how you develop and support people to deliver the most beneficial and impactful training.” 

This work is being spotlighted as part of NCFE’s Why Should I Care? campaign – a celebration of CACHE’s 80th anniversary and its legacy in shaping the future of care. Intergenerational practice is a milestone of the campaign because it unites the core principles of early years and social care in one inclusive, community-rooted model. 

Helping to heal a fractured society 

The benefits of intergenerational practice are well-documented. The World Health Organisation identifies it as one of the three most impactful ways to address loneliness and isolation – alongside policy and training. From what I’ve seen, it’s a model for the future. It brings belonging and inclusivity to life, helping us rediscover empathy and shared humanity. 

I echo Judith’s sentiment in our latest film from the day we spent at Apples and Honey Nightingale: “We live in a fractured society where people have lost the ability to empathise. Intergenerational practice helps us know each other, live together, learn together, play together, grieve together, support each other, celebrate together.” 

My wish moving forwards 

Our hope is that every educational setting – from early years to university – and every care and social health organisation will embrace intergenerational practice. Imagine a future where schools and care homes routinely collaborate, and where learning is not confined to age groups or specific settings. 

As policymakers call for more enrichment and extracurricular learning, initiatives like The Grandfriends Club offer a glimpse of what that vision could look like in practice. It’s a reminder that some of the most meaningful learning can happen outside the classroom – in nurseries, gardens and care homes. 

Intergenerational practice is not just a nice idea; it’s a necessity. It addresses isolation, builds resilience and nurtures the qualities that make societies thrive. As we celebrate CACHE’s 80-year legacy, we are also looking forward – championing models of care that unite rather than divide, and that prepare future generations to lead with empathy and understanding. 

Watch and learn more about this initiative on our ‘Meet the grandfriends: the power of intergenerational practice’ page, or learn more about our Why Should I Care? campaign here. 

Visit our intergenerational care hub to learn more