Tracey recently lent her support to Abbeyfield Week 2012 by signing the Abbeyfield Week Pledge in Parliament.  The pledge commits Tracey to support and promote generational skills swapping in Chatham and Aylesford, and to actively encourage older and younger people in her area to forge strong intergenerational relationships all year round.

Abbeyfield is a not-for-profit organisation which has over 500 houses and 80 care homes across the UK.  Abbeyfield Week, which will take place between 9th and 16th June, is an annual celebration which sees events hosted at a number of Abbeyfield’s houses and care homes.  This year’s theme is AGEnda, which is an innovative exercise in skills swapping between older and younger people. As such, AGEnda aims to encourage and improve greater understanding between generations.  It will also enable residents to have a fun day interacting with young people in swapping skills which are currently unknown to each other.

This year, Abbeyfield Week coincides with the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations which will give local communities an additional reason to interact with each other and share their knowledge, which could be anything from sharing computers and technology skills to knitting or even discussing the differences in their respective lifestyles.  Abbeyfield Week is particularly relevant this year as 2012 is the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. 

Tracey said: “I am pleased to be able to sign the Abbeyfield Week Pledge supporting this innovative scheme to help raise awareness of the importance of skills swaps. Too often we overlook the need for different generations to get together and learn new skills such as IT, cooking, and reading. It also provides an excellent opportunity for generations to discuss the differences in their lifestyles to encourage better understanding between one another.”

Paul Allen, Chief Executive of Abbeyfield said: “We are delighted that Tracey Crouch MP has signed our pledge supporting this year’s Abbeyfield Week – AGEnda: A generational skills swap. We would like to see more of these generational skills swaps in areas across the country to enable better understanding between different generations. Schemes such as this not only help alleviate loneliness amongst older people, but also teach younger generations skills that they might otherwise have missed.”

Abbeyfield is also launching a competition for the best Inter-Generational Skills Swap to celebrate Abbeyfield Week. One lucky school or youth group will win a visit from popular dance duo Twist and Pulse in September.  The dance act, former Britain’s Got Talent finalists, are backing our AGEnda campaign and have pledged to not only meet the winning Skills Swap team,  but also put on a special dance performance.  To enter, please complete the online application form to enter the Skills Swap challenge!