Children’s time capsule buried at Southampton care home

Children at Highfield Infant School buried treasured items in a time capsule at the grounds of Mayflower Court, a residential care home in Southampton.

A competition at the school led to children finalising letters, drawings, photographs and documents relating to Mayflower Court as items to be placed in the time capsule, ready for future generations to find. Children carefully chose items to capture the essence of modern life.

Joe Patterson, home manager at Mayflower Court care home, said: “Everyone has been looking forward to burying the time capsule as it will be an insight into life in 2015 when it is opened in 100 years’ time. The pieces the children put together about their lives and papers relating to Mayflower Court and Southampton will be important historic documents when they are read in centuries to come.”

Residents at Mayflower Court were joined by Southampton’s mayor, Linda Norris, a local pastor, as well as year one and two pupils from Highfield Infant School, to bury the time capsule in a memorable ceremony.

Linda Norris, mayor of Southampton, commented: “Mayflower Court will be a really valuable addition to the Highfield community. We need an upmarket care home in Southampton and the team here can make that happen. Having the home and the primary school so close to one another, working together on projects like this, presents lovely opportunities for the generations to connect.”

Sales and marketing director at Anchor, Howard Nankivell, added: “We want to be central to life in Highfield, and wider Southampton, and this is just the start of our relationship with the local community. It’s great that the children have had a chance to find out about what Mayflower Court will be like when it’s open – I really believe it will be a care home for Southampton to be proud of.”

Speaking about the successful competition at Highfield Infant School, head teacher Allan King commented: “It’s been fantastic for children at Highfield Infant School to be involved in this project.

“When considering what should be included in the time capsule, we looked at what had changed in the last 100 years and then asked the children what they thought Southampton might look like in another 100 years. We talked about everything, from local landmarks to lessons at school. The contents reflect life in 2015 and include photographs and letters written by the children to be opened by future generations.”