Steph Stanhope, Founder of Creating Caring Connections CIC, is starting a new Connection Club in Suffolk from next week. Here, Steph explains all about the benefits of small group companionship support
Can you remind readers who you are and what you do?
I’m the founder of Creating Caring Connections CIC; our aim is to promote wellbeing through connection. In recent years our focus has been on providing Companionship Support and running The Intergenerational Connections Project.
Companionship Support enables people to continue doing things that are important to them, to maintain their sense of self. It also provides carers with some time for themselves, to do things that maintain their own sense of self, health and wellbeing. The Intergenerational Connections Project supports schools and care homes to create and develop meaningful relationships.
I run Creating Caring Connections CIC alongside working part time as a social worker, celebrating 10 years of registration this year. Before qualifying as a social worker, I worked as a support worker and a carer and loved the more ‘hands on’ approach to supporting people, visiting regularly allowing for a relationship to be built and doing tasks/activities together. Providing companionship support and facilitating intergenerational connections sessions have brought some of that back which I enjoy. The relationships and connections I’ve formed and witnessed forming are incredibly important to me and big part of why I do what I do.
We last featured you in 2022 – what has been happening with Creating Caring Connections CIC since then?
I cycled my first (and only) century to raise money for The Intergenerational Connections Project (October 2022)! Since then, I’ve continued to work alongside schools and care homes with the aim of building sustainable relationships with regular visits throughout the school year, year after year. We’ve had some fantastic feedback that shows the value and impact of these connections.
‘The children become more confident in the environment and their different personalities shine’
‘Children who find school challenging have the opportunity to make positive connections with the residents, raising their self-esteem and boosting their wellbeing’
‘I really enjoy the reading and drawing activities we do, I put the pictures up on my wall’ (resident)
‘The laughter, the stories shared, and the mutual learning really has enriched our residents’ lives…fostering a sense of purpose and relevance for our residents, reminding them that their stories are valuable and their presence cherished’
Earlier this year, we started a new project that brought our Companionship Support and The Intergenerational Connections Project together. A lady I support enjoys being around children, so I reached out to her local primary school to enquire about visits. We were linked with a Year 1 class and have visited monthly to listen to children read, the feedback from the school again has been positive. They said that the children enjoyed our visits and appeared calmer when we were there. We are looking forward to returning in a few weeks’ time to meet the new year 1 children.
What can you tell us about the new Connection Club – and why is it important to offer it, do you think?
I’m always thinking about how I can support more people within the limited time I have available and create as much of a positive impact for people as I possibly can. This led me to think about small group companionship support and The Connection Club was formed.
The Connection Club will provide a fun, sociable and engaging environment for individuals, whilst also being an affordable way for carers to have a longer period for themselves, away from their caring role.
Because I feel that intergenerational connections are valuable, I’m hoping that children from local nurseries and schools will join members of The Connection Club for some activities.
Having supportive spaces like this are important, as people get older their social networks can become smaller, they can lose motivation, confidence or the ability to access the community and meet other people, becoming isolated. Caring for a loved one can also impact on relationships and has been described as lonely at times. For carers, knowing that their loved one is being supported in an environment they are happy in, enables them to make arrangements to meet their own social needs.
The Connection Club will run monthly from October, the first session falling on the International Day of Older People with this year’s theme being ‘Building Belonging: celebrating the power of our social connections’ (Centre of Ageing Better).
When and where will it take place and how can people find out more about it?
The Connection Club will run in Kesgrave on the first Wednesday of the month from 9.30am –1.30pm. You can find more information on our website as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Any plans you can let us know about?
I’m always looking new school and care home connections to support and next year has been declared as The National Year of Reading by the Education Secretary so I would love to work with some early years’ providers, schools, care homes and libraries so that this can be enjoyed intergenerationally.
I’m also hopeful that I can grow The Connection Club to provide small group companionship (with an intergenerational element) on a more frequent basis and in other areas.
Connection Club opens its doors in Kesgrave on the first Wednesday of the month from October, 2025, offering an opportunity to enjoy the company of others and for carers to have some time for themselves. Activities at the club will include: Music; Magazines/newspapers; Wordsearch; Adult colouring sheets; Dominos; Puzzles; Bowls/skittles etc; Crafts; Intergenerational Connections sessions with local children (visiting with their nursery and/or school). Approx. timings for the club: 9.30-10am – arrive and settle in with a cuppa and catch up; 11.45am-12.45pm – lunch (please bring your own); 1.30pm – time to say goodbye. Spaces will be limited so please get in touch to book yours by emailing steph@creatingcaringconnections.co.uk. Visit Creating Caring Connections.
Featured image of Steph Stanhope by Emma Ratcliffe
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