Going to summer camp with your grandchildren is possible in Isère. In Roissard more exactly. This intergenerational experience, organized by the Vitacolo association in a leisure center near Lake Monteynard, has already won over several families. At the end of July, France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes followed two of them to try to understand the benefits of these rather original holidays. 35 children aged 4 to 10 then lived with their grandparents.
For Josette and Jean-Marie, the test is transformed. Thanks to this colony, they had a good time with their three grandchildren. And, rare thing when they have to keep them, they were even able to afford a little respite. “We live a better relationship, grandparents and grandchildren, we are relieved of all material constraints, explains Josette to the regional channel. The needs of children are taken into account completely and what is also great, it is that we rest.”
Brigitte, another grandmother who left with her granddaughter, sees only advantages in this innovative principle. “I had not measured the exclusivity of our relationship, I had to justify the fact that another little girl took me in her arms, she had to share me. And then on the other hand, it reassures the parents to know that she was leaving outside of her immediate family, but with the grandmother”, she confides.
Intergenerational initiatives, which connect young people with older people, have tended to increase in recent years. Promoting the transmission of experience, forging a social bond, breaking the isolation of seniors: the advantages are numerous. Intergenerational housing, for example, makes it possible to bring seniors and students together under the same roof. A proven method.
