Elderly residents living at a care home were made honorary grandads for the day to youngsters from a local nursery, as part of a scheme to bring the generations together.

Richmond Care Home, Shirebrook, welcomes children from Chestnuts Childcare every Friday. During a recent visit six of the group stayed on for lunch with their appointed honorary grandads.

Henry Banner, 93. enjoyed a lunch of fish and chips, fruit squash and ice cream with four-year-old George Jackson.

“George made my day,” said Henry. “I don’t have grandchildren of my own so this has been lovely. George was great company.

“The idea of being an honorary grandad for the children is wonderful. I look forward to them coming, it’s the highlight of my week.”

Research shows that activities shared by both young and the elderly have positive effects for older people in residential care, giving them added sense of purpose and improving self-esteem.

Community organiser at the home, Natasha Westwood, said: “The residents absolutely love it when the children come to visit.

“It’s hard to describe the difference it makes to them. Some of them can be reluctant to join in with the activities we run here, but when the children come, the men make a point of coming out of their rooms to spend time with them.

“It’s wonderful to see how their mood lifts. These visits give the residents an opportunity for interaction, which is very important for their wellbeing.”

Richmond Care Home offers residential and dementia care for up to 40 people. It also welcomes pupils from Stubbin Wood special school to spend time with residents, and opens its community café to local people once a fortnight.

“The children love coming here,” said Chestnuts manager, Shannon Edmunds. “They look forward to their visits and there are some nice relationships starting to form. Their parents tell us how much they talk about it when they get home!”