Children at three Perthshire schools have written and performed songs inspired by the stories of elderly people.
You can listen below to the recordings made by Cleish, Guildtown and Milnathort primary schools after pupils visited local care homes and spoke to residents about their memories, hobbies and hopes for the future.
The children have performed the songs in person to those whose inspired them at Causeway Court Care Home, in Kinross, Robert Douglas Memorial Home, in Scone, and Ashley House Care Home, in Milnathort.
Listen to Horsecross Arts Harmony Project songs:
Guildtown Primary School
You can read an excerpt of the lyrics to Memory Lane at the bottom of this article.
Cleish Primary School
Milnathort Primary School
They worked with musicians and drama artists on the Horsecross Arts Harmony Project by Horsecross Arts, the charity behind Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre.
Kim Robertson, Guildtown Primary School head teacher, said: “The children gained so much from the whole experience.
“Their confidence and engagement in the project grew as time went on and they were able to use all the information that they learned to create a song for the residents that they were all proud of.
“Being able to perform it at the care home was wonderful and we would love to continue making links with them in the future.”
The experience was just as rewarding for the older generation, according to Robert Douglas Memorial Home activities coordinator Louise Paton.
She said: “Our residents loved sharing stories and then when the children came along to perform their song it was the icing on the cake, with the residents soon picking up the beat of the song and some of the words so they could join in.
“The children were very interested in our residents and vice versa.”
Hayley Blakeman, schools creative coordinator for Horsecross Arts, said the organisation hopes to produce more intergenerational work.
She said: “The Harmony Project has been such a joyous experience for all involved and has really shown the power of storytelling and music making to bring people together.”
The Horsecross Arts Harmony Project project was funded by The Gannochy Trust.
Memory Lane excerpt
There goes Mary
Dancing down the streets
Playing ball games and skipping
In nineteen twenty-eight
Now she’s packing sweeties
Treats for you and me
Everybody loves them
From Sheffield to Dundee
Down the shops and down the streets
Down the school and down the beach
Down we go through memory lane
Where music fills our ears and minds again
There goes Mari
Selling seashells by the sea
With her shoelaces untied
Will she sell a shell to me?
Now she’s at the grocers
Selling tasty nibbles
Chatting and a-blethering
Saying ‘Eat your vegetables!
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