Anavo Pen Pals: Bringing Residents Together Across Our Homes

Residents at Anavo’s Hailsham House and Surbitonian Gardens have begun building new friendships through Anavo Pen Pal scheme, a new letter writing initiative designed to connect residents across our homes.

The scheme pairs residents with a pen pal based on shared interests, encouraging them to exchange letters every two to four weeks and share stories, memories and everyday experiences.

With support from each home’s Activities Team, residents are helped to write their letters before posting them in the local post box, often during walks or trips out into the community. The initiative creates opportunities for meaningful conversation, gentle activity and the excitement of receiving a handwritten reply.

The first partnership between Hailsham House and Surbitonian Gardens has already seen residents enjoying the experience of writing and receiving letters, creating connections with people they may never otherwise have met.

Jade, Activities Coordinator at Hailsham House, said “Anavo Pen Pals is a great way of helping residents build new friendships beyond their own home. It’s been lovely to see the enthusiasm from residents as they’ve written their first letters and looked forward to receiving replies.”

The initiative aims to encourage social connection, stimulate conversation and create opportunities for residents to learn more about people living in other Anavo homes.

Following the success of the first exchange between Hailsham House and Surbitonian Gardens, Anavo hopes to introduce the Pen Pals initiative across more of its homes, with plans to bring pen pals together in person and through video calls as their friendships continue to grow.