At the heart of compassionate communities is connection. One way to feel more connected with the people who are important to us is to share stories and experiences – finding out new things and also understanding what we have in common. We’d like to encourage story sharing across the generations and would like to encourage young people to interview and record their older family members. In recording your family, not only will you find out more about each other – but you’ll have a recording you can keep for years to come.

Martha, aged 8, interviewed her Grandma and said that “it was fun to get to know more about her” and that she would recommend it to others “because you don’t usually ask your grandparents that much and it’s good to get to know them a bit more and their likes and dislikes”. It might be a bit daunting for to think about how you might record it or what questions you might ask so we’ve developed some guidelines. Questions can range from who was your best friend to why did you marry Grandma and what is on your bucket list.

If you’re keen to get involved but would like some support we have been working with Barbara Altounyan, Founder of Hospice Biographers, who can support you to develop your questions and also record the interview via a mobile to landline phone call. Barbara can be contacted via email at barbara@thehospicebiographers.com

We’d love to hear how you get on!