A charity that sends letters by young people to care home residents is celebrating assisting its 2,000th home.

Before Covid-19, registered charity Yopey worked in about a dozen homes a year, recruiting and training older schoolchildren to befriend elderly people living with dementia, and supporting visits near their school. The intergenerational scheme reportedly contributed to some homes involved being upgraded by the CQC.

When care homes were closed to visitors at the start of the pandemic, Yopey founder Tony Gearing thought the charity might fold. “I came up with the idea of showing our young volunteers how to write letters – something many of the internet generation have never done before. The young people themselves suggested making crosswords and word searches for the locked-down residents to do, as they had seen the elderly doing these when they were able to visit.”

The number of care and nursing homes that Yopey sends the young people’s materials to grew to several hundred in the first lockdown, passing 1,000 by early 2021, and has now reached 2,000. Some care homes have joined from abroad, including a few in Ireland and even one in Australia.

As well as emailing packs of letters and activities to care homes, Yopey and the young people have also made short variety shows that can be seen on YouTube, and artistic youngsters have been sharing their art, even painting portraits of residents from photos supplied by their care homes. All materials are shared digitally to avoid transmitting Covid-19 on surfaces.

“Everything is aimed at stimulating conversations in care homes and sparking reminisces,” said Gearing, “and the reports we are getting back from care homes suggest we are achieving that.”

“We think that Yopey is wonderful and all of your young people are so kind, generous and inspirational,” said a representative from TLC care home, Cambridge Manor.

The ExcelCare group of care homes were early joiners to the free scheme. “The people living at ExcelCare homes have been thankful for the relationship that they have cultivated with Yopey over the last few years,” said a manager.

“The Yopey Befrienders have sent the people living at our homes so many letters, quizzes, drawings and puzzles each month, and the residents always look forward to their deliveries. They have been such valuable resources over the pandemic and have helped everyone in the home feel connected and loved.”

Larger care home groups have also got involved, including HC-One and Four Seasons. “You have really helped our residents through this awful lockdown pandemic,” said a representative for Harper Fields, a Barchester care home in Coventry. “We have enjoyed reading your lovely letters to each other over a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake. The puzzles have really helped to keep our minds active. Your pictures have been fabulous. You’ve helped make us all feel very special.”

Some residents can reply to letter writers and pen pal friendships have become established; other residents give feedback with the help of carers. When a care home responds with feedback for the first time, it is awarded a partnership certificate by Yopey, which it can show to residents’ relatives and the CQC.

Yopey materials have also got residents out of their chairs and moving. “Our residents loved the singalong video on YouTube, especially the Hokey Cokey which they danced and sang along to,” reported a Select Healthcare care home worker.

“We spent quite a bit of time today pleasantly submerged in word games. We had a great time – thank you for helping to keep my voracious residents entertained and engaged, Please keep doing what you’re doing,” said a worker at Montcler care home in Clermont, Queensland.

Gearing added: “We are looking for one more round of care homes to join for free. After that, we will be charging a modest monthly subscription fee, as we need to generate income to keep this service going.”