Balcombe-based community group wants people across West Sussex to turn an isolated older person’s stories into a book

Bridging Ages, a group which works to build intergenerational relationships, is offering free use of its Life Stories interview and book-writing software to help with this.

Their first project ran in Forest Row, East Sussex, and focused on recording the stories of older people.

Sarah Yeates, who started the Life Stories project with her father, said: “Our phone calls with my dad have been spent laughing and in reflection.

“The grandchildren also helped interview him via FaceTime and it has given us such a lovely opportunity to all spend time together in such a heart-warming way.

“It’s also given Dad a project to search for photographs for his book.”

Ordinarily, Life Stories is a community service programme run by schools, local groups and charities.

Teenagers visit older people and interview them about their lives. Their stories are turned into a professionally published book.

In response to the Covid-19 crisis, Bridging Ages has adapted their materials for individual use.

The free offer includes a digital interview workbook, use of online book writing software and a free pdf download of the finished Life Stories book.

It can be accessed on the Bridging Ages website, www.bridgingages.co.uk and is available until September 2020.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.