Patients at the Bundaberg Hospital had a pleasant dose of medicine to brighten their day in February when students from St Mary’s Catholic Primary school delivered around 300 personally written letters and cards on Letter to An Elder Day.

A national initiative held annually on 26 February, Letter to An Elder Day was founded by Love for Our Elders in 2020 to encourage sending handwritten letters to elders across the country as a way of connecting with loved ones or those who may be isolated from others.

This grew from the story of a young boy named Jacob Cramer who lost his grandfather and began volunteering at a local senior living community as a way of honouring his memory.  During this time Jacob learnt that many of the residents rarely received messages or visits from family and friends.

Bekk Woodforth from the Partners in Care Foundation saw Letter to An Elder Day as a chance to connect school students in the community with patients at the Bundaberg Hospital and invited St Mary’s Catholic Primary School to be involved.  She also saw it as an opportunity for the foundation’s volunteers to engage with patients during their visits while passing on the students’ messages.

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School Assistant Principal of Religious Education David Boge said the school agreed to take part as it was a great activity for the students.

“We do a similar thing in Catholic Education Week where the students go out into the community with acts of kindness,” he said.

“We saw this as an opportunity to do that more than once a year.

“This activity brings awareness as children can get caught up in their own lives and not realise others aren’t as lucky as they are.”

David said students from Prep to Year 6 either created artwork or wrote letters which included some common themes.

“They’ve shared something about themselves, mentioning their favourite foods, colours and even added some jokes,” he said.

“They’ve asked questions to get to know the person, which opens conversations.

“The students would love to hear back from some of the patients who received the letters and cards.”

School leaders Cadence and Austin represented the school in delivering the messages and shared what it was like to help older members of the community.

“I knew that they would enjoy having a letter sent to them and when they read it, they would smile and it would brighten their day,” Cadence said.

“It makes me feel happy that we’ve done this in the community because I know people can get really down and hopefully this brings some joy to them.”

For Austin, he too was glad he was making older people happy by writing them a letter.

“I feel good about myself knowing I am making someone’s day better,” he said.

Geriatric Emergency Department Intervention Service (GEDI) Nurse Consultant Samantha Matthews was grateful for the students’ enthusiasm and kind gesture.

“The well wishes will help to lift patients’ spirits and will also provide a tangible point of engagement between older adult patients and the GEDI volunteer staff,” she said.

“I can see the potential for further engagement through the Eat Walk Engage program and even create partnerships with local residential aged care facilities and primary schools moving forward.

“Thanks to St Mary’s Catholic Primary School and Partners in Care for bringing this initiative to the patients at the Bundaberg Hospital.”