A project helping to combat loneliness in older care home residents and improve the writing of homeschooling kids has been a "life-line" in the pandemic, participants say.
My Dear New Friend was launched by Camilla Parker-Bowles's niece Alice Irwin, with the support of the Duchess of Cornwall, in November last year - with Alice's 11-year-old daughter Violet also sending her own personalised letters.
The inter-generational letter-writing project, ran by charity National Literary Trust, hopes to boost children’s motivation to write and help combat loneliness among older adults.
Violet May-Phillips, 89, a resident at St Breock Residential Home in Wadebrige, Cornwall, has been exchanging letters with pupils at nearby Wadebridge Primary Academy.
Violet said: "I have missed being around children so much. I can't say how much this has cheered me up, receiving their letters.
"They're such a joy and it really makes my day, hearing what they've all been up to. It's been a life-line."
Eva Henrique-Murray, 11, who is in Year Six at Wadebridge Primary Academy, said: "We used to visit the care home but haven't been able to due to lockdown so it is so nice to still be able to write to them and share our experiences.
"It is good to hear their experiences too and learn from older generations."
The initiative was launched to encourage children and older adults to use the power of letter-writing to build new friendships and support literacy - especially when schools were closed.
Organisers hail letter-writing for its ability to help children feel happy and express their feelings.
The project began when Alice encouraged her own children to write letters to a local care home to let residents know they were in their thoughts at a time when family or friends were unable to visit them.
Since they didn’t know anyone at the care home, they addressed their letter to 'My Dear New Friend'.
Alice now hopes her campaign will help build community relations beyond the pandemic, saying she'd love to see primary schools twinned with care homes across the country.
She said: "It’s heart-warming to see how My Dear New Friend continues to connect local communities in such a special way.
"I’m so glad the project has created new networks with schools and care homes and supported participants during lockdown, a time where so many people miss the ability to meet and speak to new people."
She described her daughter Violet's letters to care home residents as like a "baked potato on a Sunday night - they're cosy, happy, upbeat".
The Duchess herself has also been full of praise for the project, saying: "As proud patron of the National Literary Trust it is so encouraging, in this age of technology, to see children putting pen to paper and writing a letter to the older generation residing in care homes.
"After all, in these challenging times, there is nothing more cheering than receiving a handwritten letter and making a new friend."
- For more information, visit wordsforlife.org.uk/activities/make-friends-my-dear-new-friend/
