Key Group, The Aces, noticed many elderly neighbours were isolated and alone during lockdown. They wanted to do something kind to help bridge the local intergenerational gap between young people and the elderly in their community and used The Key's skills development programme to do just that.

They came up with the inspirational idea of a pen pal scheme to offer company and support from a safe distance. The group worked hard to recruit other young volunteers to their cause and inspired them to get writing too. 

The Ace’s said "we wanted to show the residents of the local care home that not all teenagers are bad. The care home is near the bus stop and they see lots of teenagers hanging around dressed in hoodies and often think we look intimidating. But we wanted to show them that we are nice people and so we started writing letters to some of the residents during the lockdown.”

Over a six-month period, the group exchanged 53 letters with residents and decided the perfect way to celebrate was to treat all their newfound pals to a fish and chip treat to remember. The group negotiated with local fish and chip shops to secure a bumper deal beforehand delivering the goods to their new friends.