STAFF at a care home struggling to find childcare brought in their little ones into work as part of a new initiative.

The scheme - at St David’s Residential Home in Rhyl - encourages activities and positive relationships between the residents and children.

Ruth Waltho, home manager, said: "A lot of our staff struggled over the summer holidays finding child care, so I decided to make things easier and invite them to come to work with their mums. This worked better than I thought as initially I was a bit worried.

"The residents and children soon got to know each other and the residents were asking when the children would be coming in.

"The children helped in the dining room, went on trips and helped with the morning drinks and supper trolley as well as generally chatting and exchanging stories."

The initiative was introduced as a way of supporting staff and to break down age barriers.

Ruth added: "Some of our residents don’t have grandchildren, and these children have filled a gap in their lives.

"It has extended the family feel and ethos of St David’s and has had a really positive result.

"Intergenerational care has great benefits for reducing depression and isolation in the older generation. It has also proven to help with mobility and physical skills. It can help children develop their own language skills and also help them to develop empathy as well as giving the child and older person a sense of purpose. It can foster positive long term relationships as we have seen already at St David’s.

"We look forward to welcoming schools and our local day nursery over the next few weeks."