Spotlight on...Katy Heale, Session Facilitator

Welcome to the Brighter Together Hotseat Katy!

First question – what were you up to before Brighter Together?

My background is in teaching, I started out as a geography teacher in a secondary school (with a bit of PE thrown in). I was a Head of Year for over 6 years, leaving teaching once I had a young family.

Why did joining Brighter Together appeal to you?

I joined Brighter Together 3 years ago as I really enjoy working with small children and the role worked for my family, as my children were also quite small. I thought that working with older people would be an interesting challenge for me. I had seen the Channel 4 documentary about joining a nursery and a care home and I loved the concept.

What do you love most about what you do?

I have now been leading sessions since February 2022 and I love it! It gives me so much joy as I can observe the enjoyment that it brings to the people, young and old, in my groups.

There have been so many favourite moments over the years, each one a spark of happiness. One moment that I look back so fondly on, was with a gentleman in my group who was a former headmaster. Whilst we were singing, he spontaneously got up and danced with the children, which they loved. The happiness for all in that session was so lovely!

I find it so delightful when a child and an older person connect and form bonds in my sessions, this is especially so for the people I work with who don’t have their own grandchildren. This role brings me an enormous amount of job satisfaction and I consider myself lucky to be able to do it.

Our projects are lucky to have such an incredible team of individuals leading the sessions each week and we’re delighted to work with such talented and enthusiastic members.

My story...Leo's Family

Why did you want your child to take part in intergenerational sessions?

I had watched the Channel 4 documentary programme and seen intergenerational work in action. Also when I was at school, we visited care homes, so I was aware of the positive benefits.

Before starting the sessions, Leo would avoid difference. My sister uses a wheelchair and Leo has struggled to connect with her. I thought it would be good for him, although he was reluctant to take part in the sessions at first.

Have you seen any benefit for your child since he has been coming to Brighter Together sessions?

Katy (the Session Facilitator) really enabled him to feel safe in the environment of the care home and helped him to grow in confidence there. After just a few sessions, he now interacts so differently with my sister, he is curious and accepting.

What does your child say about his time at the care home?

Now that he has settled, Leo tells me about the residents. He tells me stories about them and the activities they did together. He loves everything that he has made, he is especially proud of his plant that they planted together and waters it all the time. He really enjoyed telling me about making Tower Bridge out of Lego!

What does Leo enjoy most?

One of the residents had been very unwell recently and Leo made her smile and laugh, really cheering her up. Katy told Leo that he was ‘the best medicine’ and he talked about it feeling nice that he was making a difference. He told me it felt amazing when the resident began to laugh with him. He feels that he is making an impact, he can see he makes a difference to someone and that makes him feel good about himself. Leo said:

“It’s amazing when the grown ups laugh with us. I am the best medicine”