MUSSELBURGH GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Intergenerational Wider Achievement Project 2024-2025

Friday the 4th of April marks the final official Wider Achievement visit to the Musselburgh Meeting Centre of this session. A group of senior pupils signed up to the Intergenerational Wider Achievement Project at the beginning of this academic year and have been visiting a group of members at the Musselburgh Meeting Centre every two weeks. 

The Musselburgh Meeting Centre is an incredible resource for people who are living with dementia. The centre organises trips and activities for their members as well as offering invaluable support and friendship to all those who attend. 

This is the second year that the Intergenerational Wider Achievement group has been running and once again, over the course of this year, we have seen friendships grow between the young people of Musselburgh Grammar and the members of the Meeting Centre. 

During the first few months of meeting each other, the young people and members got to know each other over many a cuppa. The members shared their experiences and stories while the young people shared their plans for the future. The group played games, participated in quizzes and completed art projects together which helped them all bond and get to know one another. Since then, the group has done lots of different activities together, some of which included  rehearsing and performing as a choir at the Meeting Centre’s annual Christmas party and learning some classic Scottish songs in preparation for Burns Night celebrations! 

In November, the group  honoured Remembrance Day by placing a display of poppies outside St. Andrews High Church. They also made their own poppy display inside the church by hand making poppies and sharing memories of those who were lost in the war. A joint wreath from Musselburgh Grammar School and the Meeting Centre was placed on the war memorial as a sign of respect from the intergenerational group.

In the new year, the group shared new year's resolutions and talked about the importance of brain health and how to improve it. The group also cleaned up the Church garden and planted bedding plants to brighten things up in preparation for spring! The members even visited the pupils at Musselburgh Grammar School twice! During these visits, pupils proudly showed the members round the building, the garden and of course, the famous beehives!  During their visit here, the members learned to play ‘Jolene’ on the ukulele and got the percussion instruments out for a spirited rendition of ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’.  A few of the members and young people also recorded an interview for the upcoming MGS Podcast episode  (stay tuned…). 

Before  our young people move on to pastures new, we reflected on all of the good times that we have shared with the members at the meeting centre. One of the volunteers for the centre, Faye Rolland, wrote a beautiful poem to sum up our time together and show the real benefits that come from intergenerational work: 

When Generations Meet 

Faye Rolland 

Things are not always easy 

When generations meet, 

Their differences seem miles apart 

They say ‘metres’, we say ‘feet’!

But when you came to visit us 

We soon were put at ease, 

You really are good company 

And always keen to please.

You are all so kind and caring 

And very helpful too, 

You always like taking part 

In the many things we do.

You’ve taken part in our quizzes, 

And you’ve had a go at baking,

You’ve always added on your wee bit 

To things that we are making. 

When you were playing ‘Kurling’ 

You were very hard to beat, 

Your energy made all of us tired 

We all needed to have a seat! 

There is no end to what you do 

To help us and make us smile, 

Whether it’s gardening or birdwatching 

You all go that extra mile. 

When we visited you at the school 

You were all so warm and kind,

We can be a bit slow on the uptake

But you never seem to mind! 

One of you, very kindly 

Arranged a ukulele lesson, 

We managed a note here and there 

But never a full music session! 

You were all so enthusiastic 

But how strange it must have been, 

When we all joined in together 

To beautifully sing ‘Jolene’!! 

There’s so much more we want to say 

There’s more we’d like us all to do, 

So for now, we send our heartfelt thanks

 From all of us to you!!