National campaign launched to 'bridge the gap' between young and old by learning poetry

BBC Radio 4 presenter Gyles Brandreth is launching a national campaign to prove how powerful poetry can be when it comes to bringing different age groups together.

The ‘Just a Minute’ presenter is urging schools across the UK to sign up via the www.poetrytogether.com website and will provide every participating school with a signed copy of Mr Brandreth’s new anthology of poems ‘Dancing by the Light of the Moon’, due to be published in the autumn.

'Learning a poem when you’re older is good for the mind'

Mr Brandreth said: “I love poetry and want to share the joy of learning a poem. The idea is beautifully simple – to get young and older people to learn the same poem and then get together to perform it and have tea. It’s free, it will be great fun and will bridge the gap between generations to the benefit of everyone." The top author and broadcaster launched the campaign at the National Army Museum in Chelsea where children from four London schools met up with Chelsea Pensioners from the Royal Hospital to recite poetry together.

Mr Brandreth is no stranger to performing poetry and has been in love with verse since he was a young boy. His fondest memory was when he performed ‘Macavity the Mystery Cat’ to its author, T S Eliot, who was 70 at the time.

Last year, Mr Brandreth made a radio programme about the value of learning poetry by heart featuring research that showed how learning and speaking poetry benefits both younger and older people.

This was the inspiration for Poetry Together, which has been backed by Dukes Education, a group of schools and education organisations united by outstanding teaching and learning.

Mr Brandreth told BBC Breakfast: “The idea came to me and some teachers from Dukes Education who said to me kids love learning poetry by heart, love reciting poetry as a group and I thought if I could get children from primary and secondary schools from all over the country to learn a poem between now and October and then share that poem with older people. Learning a poem when you’re older is good for the mind.”

Founder and chair of governors for Dukes Education, Aatif Hassan, said: “For young people, learning and reciting poems boosts their confidence, speech, memory and attention; for the elderly, it can improve brain capacity and reduce memory loss.

“We’re really excited that Poetry Together will bring communities together over a shared love of learning to tie in with ‘national poetry day’ in October.”

Care homes, nurseries and schools should contact each other, choose a poem, practise and get together in the two weeks following ‘national poetry day’ on 3 October to recite their poem together and share videos, if possible, across social media.

To find out more and sign up for Poetry Together click here