More than 600 people attended the Generation Infusion event held at Dundas Arcade in Middlesbrough.
The event, designed to bring people from different generations together, included around 30 activities – from Chair Sosa Dance Classes, arts and crafts to a smoothie-making bike.
Volunteers played a key role, with 14 people between the ages of 16 and 83 on the organising committee and more than 30 volunteers of all ages helping out on the day.
It created opportunities for people – whether they were teenagers or in their 70s – to mix.
Emma McInnes, the Health Improvement Practitioner (Ageing Well/Dementia) for Public Health South Tees, said: “That was the main point. This was about bringing generations together, getting conversations going and sharing skills.
“We had comments from people running the activities who said how much everybody had enjoyed themselves and how people taking part felt it was an opportunity to escape from everyday stress – even for just a short period. Somebody else spoke about the sense of involvement and there was also a comment about the great atmosphere and interest that was generated on the day.”
Generation Infusion was organised by Ageing Better Middlesbrough, Groundworks, Dundas Arcade and The Live Well Centre.
David Harris, the manager of Dundas Indoor Market, said the opening of the Live Well Centre in 2017 had helped establish Dundas at the centre of community life in Middlesbrough.
“We’ve always been very committed to putting on special events, but the presence of so many local services on our doorstep at the Live Well Centre means we now have the connections and capacity to organise and host days on the scale of Generation Infusion.”
