Community kids get a new 'grandparent' for the holidays
Community kids get a new 'grandparent' for the holidays
9 February 2022
The gang’s all here: The children and their ‘grandparents’ who took part in the first Tweed Heads/Palm Beach/Elanora Corps Kindness Connections Holiday Program during the recent school holidays.
Recognising the value of grandparents in a child’s life was the philosophy behind a Salvation Army school holiday program run by Tweed Heads/Palm Beach/Elanora Corps in January.
Corps Officer Major Nicole Viles said the inaugural Kindness Connections Holiday Program was designed to link older people in the corps with children and families in the community.
“The reality for many children, for a variety of reasons, is they don’t have easy access to their grandparents, nor do some older adults have easy access to their grandchildren or perhaps they don’t even have grandchildren,” Nicole said.
The three-day program was aimed at primary school-aged children who were paired with an older adult. This included trips to the beach, a Gold Coast wildlife sanctuary, and the movies. On the final day, the children and their ‘grandparents’ prepared a meal and served the child’s family. “[About 35 people] had a meal together and got to know one another [which] was fantastic,” Nicole said.
Nicole said she had the vision for the program some years ago. “I thought about the richness that children bring to older adults and older adults bring to children, and then just came out with this idea of a holiday program that would be a pathway to a weekly kids club.”
With that idea in mind, the corps posted about the program’s philosophy on the local community social media page and sought expressions of interest. “Within a matter of 24 hours, we had all the spots filled,” Nicole said. “It was fabulous.” Ten children took part in the program.
A single mother of two children said her son had no male figures in his life and asked whether her son’s ‘grandparent’ would continue the relationship beyond the program and be part of his life – and that of her family. “That’s fantastic,” Nicole said. “Such good pathways [into the corps faith community].”
She said another family believed continuing the relationship was important for their children, asking the ‘grandparent’: “Do you think that, if our family went down to the park, that you might like to come and just be a part of our family?’”
Nicole said the corps was “really excited” about introducing the kids club later in the year and looking at “more family things” where the older members of the corps could connect with families in the community.
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