BY KATEHEANEY

THE children of a Donegal got a unique look into what life is like for an older person as part of a project run in Creeslough Day Centre.

The end result of the project is the booklet 'Story Circle' which was launched this week. It contains a number of stories about the childhood of the pensioners which were recorded and written down by the children.

The project was organised by the Balor Developmental Community Arts Group. Its aim is to empower social groups to further develop community relations by interacting with one another through the provision of quality arts projects led by professional artists.

Speaking to the Donegal News this week Project Organiser Katherine Brown said the project was a great success and was the first of its kind to be run in the county. Both the young people and the pensioners enjoyed their time together and gave the young people a very different view of older people.

"Children from third, fourth and fifth classes in Glasain school took part. Firstly I went to them to explain what the project was about. They were a bit nervous at first but looking forward to having the time out of school. They did not know any of the older people beforehand.

"We were very fortunate in having Supervisor Sally Gallagher at the Day Centre. The first week tonly six of the 30 pensioners came forward to take part but by the third week, 25 had joined the project," Katherine said.

During their conversations the children discovered that their newly acquired friends knew of their grandparents who may have passed away and they knew a lot of history of the local community.

Using art, drama and music the adults and children worked together to depict the stories.

"The enjoyment of the creative

CONTINUED ON DN3