Meadowvale Retirement Centre resident Joyce O’Grady has a laugh with Beaconhills College student Georgette during their knitting class last Thursday.
By Paul Dunlop
ELDERLY residents are teaching school children the tricks of an ageless craft.
Students from Pakenham’s Beaconshills College are spending weekly sessions at Meadowvale Retirement Centre learning how to knit.
The children, in grades three to six, visit Meadowvale after school each Thursday where they first enjoy afternoon tea prepared by the residents before taking up their knitting needles.
Teacher Judy Howell said the children were helping residents knit squares that will be sewn together to make a community blanket.
They are also knitting trauma teddies for the Red Cross, and when they have mastered a few more stitches they will make penguin jumpers to help distressed, oil-covered penguins.
“The students are really enjoying learning to knit and sharing the love of the craft with the residents. They have formed many new friendships,” Ms Howell said.
“The students are also gaining a sense of what it means to be part of a wider community and giving to those in need.”
