Winter and Christmas Intergenerational Story Exchange

Written by Jolene Sheehan

A number of The Stories Of Our Lives group helped me host an intergenerational event on the theme of Winters and Christmases past at Ascension Church Hulme in December 2022, as part of Hulme’s Winter Fest event.

It started with Christmas cards and comments sent by St Philips primary school, Hulme. We used these to inspire a discussion around seasonal memories, such as special foods, events and the weather, as well as questions like:

“What was Christmas like as a child?”

“What kinds of presents did you receive?”

“Did your parents make you eat anything you absolutely hated?”

“Did your family put up a tree? What do you remember about it?”

The topic provoked lots of laughs interspersed with our usual chain reaction of linked memories! “Oh, I had forgotten about that, until you mentioned it!”

It was wonderful to get to know some new local people.

Soon after, I dropped by St Philips, with the stories and memories that members of the group had noted down. The Year 6s were engrossed in reading them, alongside their Christingle-making activity (something that a few of the group also had mentioned!). “These are really interesting!” Pupils were reported as saying.

We are looking forward to including more intergenerational activities in our planning for the upcoming year, so watch this space for news about that!