A PILOT project in Herefordshire is aiming to help the young and the old get to know each other better.

Volunteers are being asked to join in and offer their time to work with little children in preschool groups and nurseries.

The call is aimed at people over the age of 55 so only older people should apply.

Initially their services will be voluntary but if the scheme proves popular it could lead to some people taking up paid employment in child care services.

The new project is being organised by Age Concern in Herefordshire and Herefordshire Child Care Services. They believe it is important to tap the skills and experience of older people in the community and to share them with young children, many of whom have little opportunity to talk to older people.

In an ever-transient society, fewer children and grandparents share family life together and Age Concern and Childcare Services believe the new project could be a wonderful opportunity for very small people and some very experienced people to grow together. The pilot project, one of the first of its kind in the country will operate in the north of the county, particularly in the Leominster and Tenbury area.

Anyone interested in taking part should have a sense of humour, wish to be involved in the growth of the new generation, and like children.

Herefordshire Childcare Services comes within the remit of Herefordshire Council and the scheme gets direct Government funding. Information manager Dawn Probert said pre-school groups and nurseries were keen to co-operate. She said they were not looking for substitute grannies and grand dads but for older people with a wealth of experience which they could share.

Gussie Hearsey of Age Concern believed the intergenerational scheme could take off in a big way and if the response from volunteers was great the scheme could be extended across the county.

Volunteers would take a short course before joining a child care group and if they wished could carry on with more courses and become accredited carers in their own right.

More details are available from Magda Praill or Gussie Hearsey at Age Concern, telephone 01432 371241 or 01905 726652 or Dawn Probert at the Education Centre, telephone 01432 261681.