Students make 'grandfriends'

New friendships have been blooming between Murrumba Downs students and retirees as part of an intergenerational program for Queensland Seniors Month.

The Undurba Connect program, now in its third year, has brought students from Undurba State School together with residents at Bolton Clarke’s Inverpine Retirement Village.

For Elaine and Bud Pirie, the program had a personal connection, being an opportunity to deepen family relationships and spend more time with their great granddaughter Tahlullah.

“Our grandchildren came to this school and now Tahlullah is here we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to get involved in the program – she asked us to join it with her,” Elaine said.

“The kids would either come to us across the road or we would come here to the school and play different games or activities.

"Brilliant idea"

“Other times we would do a bit of trivia about the history of Australia or we would share things about how it was for us to go to school – I grew up on farms and rode to school and the kids loved the idea of that!”

To wrap up the program for this year, the students, parents and “grandies” lunched together sharing favourite moments from their regular sessions.

“I think programs like these are a brilliant idea because a lot of the younger people don’t know how we grew up, so this gives us the opportunity to exchange experiences in our lives,” Elaine said.

“We all have a great relationship with the students here. Every time we meet them here, they all come up to give us a cuddle and it’s so lovely.”

Queensland Seniors Month is celebrated in October to highlight the ongoing contribution of older people in our communities and encourage social connection.