Over time, the importance of intergenerational connections has fallen away from many communities. But many communities still believe in the value of bonds between different age groups – and they’re putting this inspiring story into action with the help of an Australia Post Community Grant.
Video: The Australia Post logo sits in the bottom right corner. In a large sunny hall, many women serve food and chat at long tables. They wear nametags. A woman with a blonde ponytail is interviewed outside.
Audio: Woman: We're here today for Cook & Talk, which is a very popular event of ours. As you can imagine, food is just instrumental in bringing people together.
Video: The sun shines on a hall that has an abstract fantasy painting covering one outer wall. The blonde woman is interviewed. Text: "Adrianna Pearce, Co-Founder of UNIITY." In the hall, Adrianna addresses the women sitting around tables. They are from a range of backgrounds. Nearby, potplants grow on tall racks. Gathered around a bench, the participants watch a woman cook.
Audio: Adrianna: UNIITY is a friendship initiative designed to enrich lives and create caring and sustainable communities. One of the best ways to increase mental health outcomes is through friendship. And then that has a ripple effect out into the greater community.
Video: Woman try cooking. A woman with platinum blonde hair is interviewed on a veranda. Text: "Marigold White, Co-Founder of UNIITY." The women cook, serve and eat together. Some women have young children.
Audio: Marigold: This project is really a response to the separation of generations that's happened in recent years. It's important for people to have connections with people older and younger than themselves. It's really helping people feel that they belong. It's giving them a sense of purpose. I think we're helping create caring and resilient communities.
Video: A red-headed participant is interviewed in a covered area. Text: "Joanna Tsalikis, UNIITY Participant. "
Audio: Joanna: When I heard about this particular event, I was very excited. I think there's a real need for this kind of event. It's brought people together. A young woman wearing a headscarf is interviewed in a garden. Text: "Aparna Ravikumar, UNIITY Participant." Three small children play in the garden. Inside, Aparna and a woman chat near other children.
Audio: Aparna: Myself and my children, we moved here by ourselves. These programs have really helped me meet people of different age groups. We make friends and just feel like you belong.
Video: Women of different ages and backgrounds cook, eat and chat together.
Audio: Cook: How easy was that?
Audio: Marigold: I'm inspired by the connections that happen between people who wouldn't normally have interacted.
Video: The Australia Post logo appears on a red screen. Below, text reads, "When we connect, we feel better. auspost.com.au/grants."
When people share common interests, they can connect with people of any generation.
That’s the idea behind Uniity (which stands for Unifying Neighbourhood Intergenerational Interactions Together With You), who describe themselves as a “friendship program”. They facilitate meaningful connections across age groups, with a desire to increase people’s happiness and sense of self-worth, health and wellbeing, as well as reducing the risk of loneliness.
“One of the best ways to increase mental health outcomes is through friendship, and then that has a ripple effect out into the greater community,” says Adrianna Pearce, Co-Founder of Uniity.
To Uniity, a caring community is one that shares intergenerational friendship. This allows for kindness to be shown to all, helps knowledge be passed down to younger people, it inspires elder care from younger generations, and creates new connections. All of this adds much value, and boosted wellbeing, to the lives of everyone involved.
When people share common interests, they can connect with people of any generation.
However, this connection between generations has too often been lost in our communities.
“This project is really a response to the separation of generations that's happened in recent years,” explains Marigold White, Co-Founder of Uniity. “It’s important for people to have connections with people older and younger than themselves. It’s really helping people feel that they belong, and it’s giving them a sense of purpose.”
Uniity was born from the personal experiences of both Adrianna and Marigold. Adrianna wanted to form a friendship with an older person after the birth of her baby and the death of her grandmother, and Marigold had found a beautiful and fulfilling bond with an older lady. Both sensed there was a lot of value in such intergenerational connections – and they wanted to help others find this as well.
It was this sense of empathy, and wanting to make a difference, that sparked the beginning of Uniity.
“I think we’re helping create caring and resilient communities,” says Marigold. “I’m inspired by the connections that happen between people who wouldn’t normally have interacted.”
The Australia Post Community Grant funded the Connections Across Generations project to help people connect over shared interests such as arts, culture, books, food and family.
Uniity’s programs have helped people connect to other people in their community.
The new programs include Cook & Talk, where people share family recipes across generations and cook healthy food together; Create & Talk, a series of creative activities that improve mental health, social connectedness and positive wellbeing; Read & Talk, with community members sharing books, expanding worlds and discussing new perspectives and philosophies; and Explore & Talk, an all-age range of friendly activities, including visiting places of cultural and environmental interest within the local neighbourhood and the greater Adelaide region.
Adrianna says that each of the programs has proven popular, with the Cook & Talk activity holding a special place in her heart. “Cook & Talk is a very popular event of ours. Food is just instrumental in bringing people together. When we connect, we feel better.”
Create & Talk, meanwhile, has seen bonds form over the learning of new skills such as macrame, card making, creating terrariums and Christmas wreaths. The Tea & Talk sessions have been invaluable during the pandemic, as they were quickly adapted to virtual events that maintained all-important connections when restrictions have been in place.
Australia Post is delivering the goods for local communities with grants to support mental wellbeing. Because when we connect, we feel better.
To help people look after their mental health and wellbeing, Australia Post is proud to partner with Beyond Blue to distribute prepaid postcards encouraging connection and raising awareness of mental health services.
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