“London, says Tony Dennis, a 62-year-old security guard, is a city of “sociable loners”. Residents want to get to know each other but have few ways to do so. Tonight, however, is different. Mr Dennis and a few dozen other locals are jousting at a monthly quiz put on by The Cares Family”
“Here is an imaginative attempt to overcome loneliness and bridge Britain’s generational divide. Here are clubs that build connections, and self-confidence too. Here’s a community network that makes clear that the long drift towards isolation is not inevitable”
“The Cares Family is a brilliant initiative. Its Founder argues that migration, gentrification, digitisation and commercialisation have disrupted once familiar and stable communities. Older people have become invisible in their own fragmented neighbourhoods. It's time to roll out the franchise across the country.”
“There's no sense of a bunch of do-gooders saying 'oh poor old things, they need our help.' This is all about creating a community between the young and the old, and destroying that cliche – the generation gap.”
“Where the generations have become estranged is in the lack of sharing time, laughter, experiences, relationships, everyday interaction. That reduction of interaction – and therefore dialogue – occurs because of a national culture and debate that stereotypes millennials and baby boomers as diametrically opposed.”
“Measures should be implemented that bring the generations together. I visited one such project co-run by Manchester Cares where younger and older neighbours are given a chance to learn from one another, to laugh, to tell stories and to build the types of friendships and social networks that really matter in life. These kinds of activities need to be rolled out on a local level across the whole country.”