{"id":3840,"date":"2024-12-05T07:44:33","date_gmt":"2024-12-05T07:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/?p=3840"},"modified":"2024-12-06T08:10:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T08:10:33","slug":"reviving-a-lost-art-pen-pal-project-alive-between-retirement-village-and-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/retirement\/reviving-a-lost-art-pen-pal-project-alive-between-retirement-village-and-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Reviving a lost art: Pen pal project alive between retirement village and school"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3840\" class=\"elementor elementor-3840\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-aa88d41 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"aa88d41\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-329ceda\" data-id=\"329ceda\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-49f3e64 elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"49f3e64\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>R<strong>esidents of Aveo\u2019s Forest Grove Retirement Living in Brisbane\u2019s south are keeping alive the art of letter writing by introducing the traditional practice to a generation more familiar with smart devices and gaming consoles.<\/strong><\/p><p>The retirees have been sharing their love of handwritten communication and the valuable life skill of posting a letter with Year 4 students from <a href=\"https:\/\/brisbanechristiancollege.com.au\/\">Brisbane Christian College<\/a> in Salisbury, 13km south of Brisbane&#8217;s CBD.<\/p><p>Forest Grove Community Manager Chelsea Challenor said she came up with the idea for the intergenerational Pen Pal Project earlier this year to engage a small group of more isolated residents.<\/p><p>\u201cWe ended up with 75 residents taking part, even those who are very socially active wanted to be involved,\u2019\u2019 Chelsea said.<\/p><p>\u201cResidents were paired with a Year 4 student and an enthusiastic flurry of back-and-forth letter writing began.<\/p><p>\u201cEveryone involved has made a special connection and it\u2019s been a huge success spanning participants aged from nine to 104.<\/p><p>\u201cThe residents are inspiring a new generation to take up the lost art of letter writing and experience the pleasure of receiving a handwritten letter in the mail.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-beb22e1 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"beb22e1\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3e6062f\" data-id=\"3e6062f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d75b696 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"d75b696\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Picture3-768x576.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-3843\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Picture3-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Picture3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Picture3-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Picture3-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Picture3-585x439.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Picture3.jpg 1430w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a8aa257 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a8aa257\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-645e289\" data-id=\"645e289\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e793310 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e793310\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In November, the Forest Grove community in Durack, 17km south-southwest of Brisbane&#8217;s CBD, hosted a morning tea for the pen pals to meet face-to-face over scones and fairy bread.<\/p><p>\u201cThe room was abuzz with chatter. I hadn\u2019t expected so much excitement, everyone was genuinely happy to meet each other,\u2019\u2019 Chelsea said.<\/p><p>Year 4 student Zoe said: \u201cWe are different, but we have a lot in common too.\u2019\u2019<\/p><p>Brisbane Christian College\u2019s chaplain Jess Johnston said the project had been a special experience for the students.<\/p><p>\u201cMany of the children don&#8217;t have grandparents in Australia so it was special to bond with someone of an older generation. They all look forward to continuing the exchange of many more letters in 2025,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p><p>Retiree Milton Eckermann said he had learned so much about his pen pal Eric through their letters.<\/p><p>\u201cIn Eric\u2019s letters he spoke very freely, then when we met at the morning tea he couldn\u2019t stop talking,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to meet a child so willing to learn from someone else with age no barrier. I think there has been growth on both sides.\u201d<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Residents of Aveo\u2019s Forest Grove Retirement Living in Brisbane\u2019s south are keeping alive the art of letter writing by introducing the traditional practice to a generation more familiar with smart devices and gaming consoles. The retirees have been sharing their love of handwritten communication and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3840"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3846,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840\/revisions\/3846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}